Surge in investment in electronic data systems by pharma sector

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: After being hampered by the global recession, uptake of electronic data systems by pharmaceutical companies is set to recover and increase significantly over the next two years, according to new Ovum research.

Ovum predicts strong demand in Asia-Pacific for EDC solutions as the region continues to host an ever increasing share of multinational clinical trials. Pharmaceutical companies are increasing the number of trials conducted in the region partly due to economic factors but also because of specific regulatory requirements tying the commercialization of novel drugs to domestic clinical trials.

Nicole Engelbert, Ovum practice leader, commented: “The public are increasingly questioning the safety of new drugs, driving more thorough clinical trials, which in turn is escalating the demand for solutions to manage the process more effectively and efficiently.

“Electronic data capture (EDC) systems are crucial to managing this data efficiently, but uptake has remained low, after being hampered by the recession. However, this is changing and companies are back on track and are once again eager to implement EDC systems. We therefore expect a spike in investment in new systems over the next couple of years.”

Ovum’s report provides life sciences companies with analysis of the EDC vendors it recommends they should consider. It states that overall, the solutions that are available today area are a vast improvement on systems offered in the past, which were often poorly designed

Engelbert commented: “The key to a good solution is that it is a web-based or software-as-a-service offering that takes into consideration clinical research workflows, using intuitive interfaces and the most up-to-date technology.

“While many EDC solutions have evolved to become more user-friendly, many vendors are selling a technology that is old and no longer sustainable. While vendors in this evaluation generally scored highly for usability and flexibility, they need to continue to improve the interfaces of their systems.”

The report also states that as the e-clinical technology market matures, a good EDC system will be only one part of a wider, connected, e-clinical platform, rather than a stand-alone solution.

Engelbert added, “This will allow solutions to share data seamlessly and reduce redundancy in data, decreasing some of the inaccuracies caused by inputting the same data in multiple systems.”