Enables End-to-End Process Streamlining and Full Traceability from Study Setup through Data Analysis and Submission
WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 22, 2009--
Phase Forward (NASDAQ: PFWD), a leading provider of data management
solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, today announced that it
has acquired privately held Waban Software, a leading provider of
platform solutions for the automation and compliance of clinical data
analysis and reporting, for $14 million in cash. Waban, headquartered in
Cambridge, Mass., and with operations in Mumbai, India, will become the
Waban Software Group within Phase Forward.
The Waban Software acquisition extends Phase Forward’s portfolio of
clinical data solutions, enabling an integrated end-to-end solution from
study setup through analysis and submission. Waban’s Statistical
Computing Environment and Clinical Data Repository (SCE/CDR) solutions
provide automation, traceability and control of the key activities
involved in the integration, analysis and reporting on clinical trial
data. This has become an increasing focus for life sciences companies as
there is greater scrutiny to ensure results produced and reported are
high quality and fully traceable.
Waban’s SCE/CDR solution also enables integration of data and metadata
from multiple sources, aggregation and version control, which is
critical to providing a secure, centralized repository for analyzing and
storing clinical trial data sets. Furthermore, customers have the
ability to integrate Waban’s best-in-class platform solution with
traditional third-party analytical tools used by biostatistics groups,
such as those offered by SAS.
“We have witnessed growing demand from life sciences companies to
streamline the link between the data management and biostatistics
activities,” said Bob Weiler, chairman and CEO, Phase Forward. “Waban is
a clear innovator and technology leader in providing platform solutions
supporting clinical data analysis and reporting. We believe that
combining this capability with our market-leading InForm™ electronic
data capture (EDC) solution provides us with the industry’s broadest and
most comprehensive clinical data solutions in the market and adds to the
solid momentum of our business.”
In addition to its statistical analysis and data repository offering,
Waban provides Specimen Management Systems (Waban SMS) and Laboratory
Information Management Solutions (Waban LIMS) for biobanking,
pharmacogenomics and biomarker development. As biomarkers become an
increasingly important area of focus in clinical development and patient
diagnosis, life sciences companies are looking for solutions to help
them manage the associated samples and assays.
“Phase Forward and Waban share a joint vision to support our customers’
needs for increased standards-based data integration and process
automation within the highly regulated clinical trial environment,” said
Himanshu Oberoi, Ph.D., president, Waban. “With our respective
technologies and Phase Forward’s global presence, financial strength and
market leading solutions, we believe our combined organization can
deliver a powerful and unmatched value proposition to life sciences
companies.”
Waban generated approximately $4 million in revenue and breakeven
operating income during the full year 2008. Additional financial details
will be provided on April 28, 2009, when Phase Forward releases its
first quarter 2009 results as well as second quarter and full year 2009
guidance, which will include Waban’s expected contribution.
Waban’s global organization consists of 81 employees, and their local
operations will be located in Phase Forward’s headquarters in Waltham,
Mass., with Dr. Oberoi becoming vice president, Waban Software Group,
Phase Forward.
About Phase Forward
Phase Forward is a leading provider of integrated data management
solutions for clinical trials and drug safety. The company offers proven
solutions for electronic data capture (InFormTM), phase I
clinic automation (LabPasTM), clinical data management
(ClintrialTM), clinical trials signal detection (CTSDTM),
strategic pharmacovigilance (Empirica SignalTM) and Signal
Management, adverse event reporting (Empirica TraceTM),
applied data standards (WebSDMTM), Web-integrated interactive
response technologies (Clarix™), and clinical data analysis and
reporting automation and compliance (Waban SCE/CDR, Waban SMS and Waban
LIMS). In addition, the company provides services in the areas of
application implementation, hosting and validation, data integration,
business process optimization, safety data management and industry
standards. Phase Forward’s products and services have been utilized in
over 10,000 clinical trials involving more than 1,000,000 clinical trial
study participants at over 280 organizations and regulatory agencies
worldwide including: AstraZeneca, Boston Scientific, Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute, Eli Lilly, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
GlaxoSmithKline, Harvard Clinical Research Institute, Merck Serono,
Novartis, Novo Nordisk, PAREXEL International, Procter & Gamble,
Quintiles, sanofi-aventis, Schering-Plough Research Institute, Servier,
Tibotec and the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory
Agency. Additional information about Phase Forward is available at www.phaseforward.com.
Cautionary Statement
Certain statements made in this press release that are not based on
historical information are forward-looking statements which are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This press release contains express or
implied forward-looking statements relating to, among other things,
Phase Forward's expectations and assumptions concerning financial
performance of Phase Forward following the consummation of its
acquisition of Waban Software, Inc. Phase Forward's ability to achieve
expected synergies as a result of the acquisition and the strengthening
of Phase Forward's market position as a result of the acquisition. These
statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a
variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Phase
Forward's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially
from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. In
particular, the risks and uncertainties include, among other things,
Phase Forward's inability to successfully integrate Waban and its
employees into Phase Forward and achieve expected synergies; Phase
Forward's ability to accurately forecast the acquisition-related
restructuring costs and allocation of the purchase price, goodwill and
other intangibles, and acquisition related and other asset adjustments;
costs associated with and consequential to the acquisition and
integration of Waban and benefits realized from the acquisition; our
ability to convince prospective customers to adopt our solutions;
competition; changing customer requirements; governmental regulation;
our ability to maintain profitability; fluctuations in our operating
results; long sales and implementation cycles; our dependence on a
limited number of customers or suppliers; product performance; third
party service interruptions or delays; technology failures; our ability
to maintain customer relationships and contracts; our ability to retain
and hire skilled personnel; our ability to protect our intellectual
property rights; product liability or intellectual property infringement
claims brought against us; acquisitions; our ability to manage our rapid
growth; our ability to obtain capital when desired on favorable terms;
our ability to comply with operating and financial covenants in our loan
agreement; and the volatility of the market price of our common stock.
Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date hereof. Phase Forward undertakes no obligation to update or revise
the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of
new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise. For
additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by Phase
Forward, see the disclosure contained in Phase Forward's public filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without
limitation, its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Source: Phase Forward
Public Relations:
Phase
Forward
Elaine Maynard, 781-902-4371
Elaine.Maynard@phaseforward.com
or
Investor
Relations:
ICR
Timothy Dolan, 617-956-6727
Timothy.Dolan@icrinc.com
