E-Media New electronic and web-based applications, sites, and technologies Suite of Drug-Development Tools Is Available From Bruker Daltonics Bruker Daltonics has introduced the PharmaTools suite of products, which includes a feature to automatically build up libraries, i.e. for natural compounds, have multi-user access to the library, and automatically screen for compounds in the library. The specificity is enhanced by combined searches with positive/negative polarity ESI-measurements, as well as MS and MS/MS data of the same compound. These libraries can be particularly powerful in drug discovery. Bruker Daltonics also has introduced Compass OA, an open-access technology for multi-user environments, particularly in large or medium-size pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies. Compass OA allows untrained customers to submit their samples for measurements via an intuitive simplified acquisition interface that guides the user step-by-step. Compass OA then distributes the acquired data and provides powerful visual tools for data interpretation and quick assessment of the results back to the users. The company also announced the availability of Metabolic Profiler, a system designed to study metabolites as surrogate markers for efficacy or to assess toxicity early on in drug development. Metabolic profiles are compared and differences detected on individual samples or patient cohorts. Samples are analyzed by microTOF ESI-TOF mass spectrometry and/or one-dimensional flow-NMR, and jointly analyzed in one powerful analysis package. The PharmaTools suite offers validation products, which increase productivity by ensuring consistent performance of the instruments over time. The PharmaTools suite now includes support software for 21 CFR Part 11 compliance, including audit trails, user management, result history, electronic signatures, and data security. The company also has expanded its global service and support network to provide any level of service support that is required by global pharmaceutical companies and individual pharma or biotech sites. Service can now also be provided via remote diagnostics, often accelerating the process of getting customers up and running again. With PharmaTools, the customer-training program now includes options for courses at applications laboratories, via Internet WebEx sessions, or on site. “We now offer a broad range of tools for drug development, and even pharma QA/QC, where reliability, validation, service support, and creative functional solutions for specific requirements are particularly important,” says Dr. Michael Schubert, VP for R&D at Bruker Daltonics. The introduction of our PharmaTools suite is a significant step in our development of solutions to meet customer requirements, says Dr. Michael Schubert. InsiteResearch Launches Planning Tool InsiteResearch, a division of Advanced Health Media, has launched Insite Matrix2 3.0 (IM2 3.0). The enhanced strategic planning tool offers pharmaceutical marketers vital insight into how physicians communicate clinical knowledge within their professional networks. The Web-based reporting tool can identify local, regional, national, and international physician experts and opinion leaders to direct clinical trials, medical-education meetings, seminars, and conferences. IM2 3.0 features an easy-to-use, intuitive interface that can be securely accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection. The tool uses a unique database design to record and map relationships between targeted physicians and key opinion leaders. The expanded database is flexible and scaleable and can be sorted by market or geography. IM2 3.0 offers pharmaceutical marketers greater flexibility in how they receive their data on physician experts, from standard, automatically updated reports to customized solutions that track separately measured elements for any project. Also, it can produce a graphic depiction of a physician’s sphere of influence and geo-mapping of all or any segment of stored data. “IM2 3.0 is the next logical step in providing the sophisticated influence mapping and detailed source information our clients need on a real-time basis,” says Eric Johnson, senior VP at InsiteResearch. InsiteResearch is always looking for ways to increase the capabilities of our products to benefit our clients, says Eric Johnson, Senior VP of InsiteResearch. UniversityOfHealthCare Offers Sales-Training Program UniversityOfHealthCare LLC has introduced a new educational program, Powerful Pharmaceutical Sales. The interactive program features hundreds of video clips and animations. It is available in CD format or on the Web for placement on a learning management system (LMS). The program is designed for pharmaceutical/medical-device company employees and for hospital employees who work with them. The course covers the structure of a hospital; medical staff; the hospital pharmacy; the hospital-based pharmacist; the nursing service; policies and procedures for hospital vendors; HIPAA essentials for the sales representative; sexual harassment; sales professionalism and building trust; customer management; powerful sales communication and selling at the executive level. “This program teaches the attitude that long-term, consultative selling relationships are most valuable for both partners and bring the greatest return,” says Daniel Farb, M.D., CEO of UniversityOfHealthCare. “Large parts of the course are devoted to how to talk with providers.” The program is designed for pharmaceutical/ medical-device company employees and for hospital employees who work with them. Statprobe Offers New Version of KnowledgePort Significantly expanding on KnowledgePort’s existing capabilities to provide key and timely clinical-trial information to project team members, Statprobe has introduced an updated version of the Web-based tool. Version 2.0 brings new access to key project information, such as real-time safety information with a new easy-to-use interface. KnowledgePort 2.0 continues to provide 24/7 availability of current study information, such as scanned CRFs, SAS data sets, enrollment status, safety reports, and a full suite of automated data management reports in a timely and streamlined manner. “Statprobe has a long and proud history of developing creative technology solutions for the challenges of clinical development,” says Carl Haske, Statprobe’s chief information officer. International Academy of Life Sciences Introduces Plantpharma.org Plantpharma.org, an online community dedicated to a science-based, medically oriented public dialogue on plant-made pharmaceuticals and their potential to help combat life-threatening illnesses, has been launched. This community is a project of the International Academy of Life Sciences (IALS). IALS is a global network of universities, medical schools, and related institutions that are dedicated to education, training, and research associated with the life sciences. Plantpharma.org contains a wide range of news and resources on plant-made pharmaceuticals (PMPs). Members receive a newsletter that contains all the latest news, opinions, and analysis on PMPs, as well as the opportunity to participate in community discussions. The site aims to offer a way for open discussion among members of the academic, scientific, medical, and patient communities, as well as other stakeholders. This is essential to creating greater understanding and an informed public dialogue on plant-made pharmaceuticals, which can improve medical options and availability for patients suffering from a number of chronic and life-threatening conditions, including cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, HIV, and other diseases. KnowledgePort 2.0 is the latest example of Statprobe’s continuing commitment to technological innovation and is a strong platform for our exciting future development plans, says Carl Haske, Chief Information Officer. Wood Mackenzie Launches Licensing Insight 2004 Wood Mackenzie has introduced an analytical tool for evaluating top 20 global pharmaceutical companies’ licensing strategies. Licensing Insight 2004 provides insight into both current and future trends in the rapidly changing licensing landscape. A one-stop source of independent research and analysis, Licensing Insight 2004 examines activity from 1998 to the present, as well as forecasting strategies out to 2008. Licensing Insight 2004 offers data on the top pharmaceutical companies sorted by therapeutic area, phase of development, timing, and geography. The analysis is easily accessible in a user-friendly, customized database delivered via Microsoft Excel. “Licensing has become a vital element of portfolio strategy,” says Jim Hall, president of life sciences for Wood Mackenzie. “Knowing what the other players are doing now and what they are planning for the future is critical.” Follow up Bruker BioSciences Corp., Billerica, Mass., the parent company of Bruker AXS Inc. and Bruker Daltonics Inc., is a leading developer and provider of life-sciences and advanced materials research tools based on X-ray technology; Bruker Daltonics is a leading developer and provider of innovative life-sciences tools based on mass spectrometry. For more information, visit bruker-biosciences.com. Cognos, Burlington, Mass, is a leader in business intelligence (BI) and performance planning software for the enterprise that enable the key steps in the management cycle, from planning and budgeting, to measuring and monitoring performance, to reporting and analysis. For more information, visit cognos.com. InsiteResearch, Union, N.J., is a market research company and a division of Advanced Health Media. For more information, visit insiteresearch.net. The International Academy of Life Sciences Inc. (IALS), Berlin, Germany, has a mission to offer people education, training, and research in key issues of the life sciences. For more information, visit lifesciences.net. Phase Forward, Waltham, Mass., is a provider of integrated enterprise-level software products, services, and hosted solutions for use in the clinical-trial component of its customers’ global research and development initiatives. For more information, visit phaseforward.com. Statprobe, Ann Arbor, Mich., founded in 1988, is a contract research organization. For more information, visit statprobe.com. Thomson Delmar Learning, Stamford, Conn., is a provider of life-long learning products and services for the healthcare, technology and trades, and career education markets. For more information, visit delmarlearning.com. UniversityOfHealthCare LLC, Los Angeles, is a total e-learning solutions provider for management and healthcare companies. For more information, visit uohc.com. Wood Mackenzie, Boston, is a provider of global life-sciences information, advisory services, and knowledge-based consulting. For more information, visit woodmac.com. Licensing Insight 2004 provides companies the kind of predictive intelligence they need to make effective, strategic licensing decisions,” says Jim Hall, President of Life Sciences for Wood Mackenzie. Cognos and Phase Forward Combine EDC and Reporting Solutions Cognos and Phase Forward have formed a strategic alliance to integrate Phase Forward’s InForm with Cognos ReportNet reporting technology. Phase Forward’s InForm software is an Internet-enabled electronic data capture (EDC) solution that reduces the inefficiencies, inaccuracies, and costs associated with paper-based clinical trials. Cognos ReportNet offers enterprise-reporting coverage, fully integrated within the Cognos Enterprise BI Series, including flexible OLAP analysis, scorecards, dashboards, event detection and alerting, and data integration. InForm’s enhanced reporting capabilities provide life-sciences companies with real-time access to critical study data for better and faster clinical-trial decision-making. InForm enables operational and clinical data to be combined into actionable information based on user roles. Users have drill-down capabilities to analyze and report at the patient, site, or trial level. InForm leverages Cognos ReportNet’s zero-footprint, Web-based reporting architecture to provide a single reporting environment capable of supporting the spectrum of simple to complex reporting and query analysis. Immediate and in-depth access to clinical and operational trial data assist sponsor companies in streamlining clinical processes. Project managers can monitor sites that are lagging in enrollment or experiencing high patient dropout rates. Trial managers can review all aspects of clinical-trial status in real-time, allowing for early detection of operational and safety concerns. “By delivering a comprehensive EDC reporting solution, we are enabling our customers to manage their clinical trials more efficiently and effectively,” says Kathryn Roy, VP of marketing at Phase Forward. The selection of Cognos as a strategic OEM partner is a clear indication of the significant competitive advantage our solution offers to the life-sciences market, says Ted Jandl, VP of Strategic Partners at Cognos. Thomson Delmar Learning Acquires NetLearning Thomson Delmar Learning expands its offering of Web-based courses through the acquisition of NetLearning, a provider of online training solutions for healthcare professionals working in hospitals. The acquisition brings proprietary knowledge of both organizations together in one online learning system, which allows for the deployment, management, and reporting of training-related activities. The content offers continuing education and clinical courses for virtually all hospital professionals, including nurses, radiologic technologists, and billing specialists. NetLearning offers 1,500 courses that are delivered via the Internet or intranet. Thomson Delmar Learning adds more than 100 courses to this platform. New content is planned on topics related to insurance and coding, clinical nursing practices, continuing education, and patient education. Thomson Delmar Learning and NetLearning share the same mission: to provide life-long learning products and services for all points along a healthcare professional’s career, says Greg Burnell, President of Delmar Learning. Plantpharma.org is an online community dedicated to helping fight life-threatening illnesses.
