FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orion Selects Medidata Rave® As Standard for Electronic
Data Capture and Management
Global Pharmaceutical Company Chooses Medidata Solutions
after Year-Long, Five-Vendor Evaluation Process
NEW YORK, NY – February 5, 2007 – Medidata Solutions today announced that Orion Corporation has chosen to standardize on Medidata Rave as its global electronic data capture (EDC) management and reporting solution. This year, Orion plans to use Rave for most of the clinical studies throughout Europe. With an ultimate goal of eliminating paper-based clinical processes, Orion expects all of the company’s trials will be managed by Medidata Rave within the next few years.
Widely recognized for its groundbreaking Parkinson’s therapies, Orion is a mid-sized, Finland-based pharmaceutical company which develops treatments in cardiology and critical care, central nervous system diseases and hormonal and urological disorders. In 2005, the company decided to replace its paper-based processes with a user-friendly electronic data capture and management solution that would improve efficiencies and decrease time to market. As a result, Orion conducted a year-long, in-depth evaluation of five leading EDC vendors and narrowed down their decision to three major vendors in the space.
Orion’s selection of Medidata Rave was due to its flexible implementation and knowledge transfer process as well as the ability to analyze data in real-time. Orion was also impressed with the product’s ease of use and ability to foster communication between site and sponsor.
“From a cost-benefit perspective, Medidata Rave offers significant advantages, and we were impressed with the product’s functionality across all levels of clinical data management. Medidata Rave allows our own staff and partners to coordinate and manage information through quick access to clean, real-time data—even in remote locations,” said Taru Blom, Director of Clinical Research & Development at Orion. “Our ultimate goal is to complete a full knowledge transfer so we can manage most of the activities of Rave in-house by the end of 2007.”
Orion begins its first study using Medidata Rave in April of 2007 and expects to see immediate benefits. “Medidata Rave’s flexible technology and ability to easily interface with other applications allows us to easily evolve our clinical trial processes and tailor our studies in new ways,” said Olavi Kilkku, Director of Biostatistics and Data Management at Orion. “With adaptive clinical trials on the horizon, Medidata Rave is a critical component to putting methods into place now that will bring us closer to fulfilling our future goals.”
“Medidata’s services and support team looks forward to working with Orion’s clinical and data management staff to enable them with the tools and training they need to implement and maintain Medidata Rave in-house,” said Tarek Sherif, CEO of Medidata Solutions. “Orion’s decision to standardize on Medidata Rave shows their commitment to enhancing clinical trials technology, and we look forward to helping the company reach their clinical goals in an efficient and cost-effective way.”
About Orion Corporation
Orion Corporation, founded in 1917, is a Finnish listed company which develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients and diagnostic tests for global markets. Orion’s major therapy areas relate to central nervous system diseases, cardiovascular diseases and critical care, and hormonal and urological therapies. Its biggest selling products are Stalevo® and Comtess®/Comtan®, both for Parkinson’s Disease, and it is the leader in the animal health market for the Nordic countries. Orion is listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange (symbols ORNAV and ORNBV). For more information about Orion, go to www.orion.fi/english.
About Medidata Solutions Worldwide
Medidata Solutions helps the world’s leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and research organizations maximize the value of their clinical research investments. Innovative process design, technology and services streamline clinical trials by providing early visibility to reliable clinical data—the lifeblood of every research organization. Working with companies and institutions both large and small, Medidata Solutions helps clinical researchers safely accelerate the process of bringing life-enhancing treatments to market—on six continents and in more than 80 countries. Medidata Solutions brings significant value to its broad client base with deep clinical experience and expertise in more than 20 therapeutic areas, projects in Phase I, II, III, IV, registries and surveillance, and studies with thousands of investigators and tens-of-thousands of subjects. For more information, please visit www.mdsol.com.
Contact:
Susan Lombardo
Lois Paul & Partners
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Susan_Lombardo@lpp.com