Mayo Clinic has streamlined a clinical trials software system that could provide a chance to manage — and involve more Mayo researchers — in larger and more complex clinical trials.
Data Management
Ranauro out, Resnick in as GenomeQuest CEO
The eight-year tenure of GenomeQuest Inc. CEO Ron Ranauro has come to a close.
Ranauro resigned his position at the Westborough, Mass.-based developer of cloud-based genome sequencing data management software and will be succeeded by vice president of products and services Richard Resnick, the company said.
Phase Forward shareholders OK Oracle buyout
Shareholders of Phase Forward Inc. (NSDQ:PFWD) voted to approve a $685 million acquisition bid from Oracle Corp. (NSDQ:ORCL).
The Waltham, Mass.-based clinical trial data management firm also announced the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by stockholders, accusing the company and its management of breaching their fiduciary duties in agreeing to the merger and seeking to block the deal.
Phase Forward’s Q1 sales rise, earnings slide
Phase Forward Inc. (NSDQ:PFWD) closed out its last quarter as a solo company with mixed results, as first-quarter revenues rose but profits slid.
The Waltham, Mass.-based clinical trial data management provider, which agreed to a $685 million buyout from Oracle Corp. (NSDQ:ORCL) earlier this month, posted sales of $57.2 million for the three months ended March 31, up 17.2 percent compared with $48.8 million during Q1 2009.
Oracle to pay $685 million for Phase Forward
Oracle Corp. (NSDQ:ORCL) agreed to pay $17 per share in cash, or about $685 million, to acquire Phase Forward Inc. (NSDQ: PFWD).
The deal, expected to close in mid-2010, will see the Waltham, Mass.-based clinical trial data management provider integrated into the global health sciences division Oracle established in June 2008.
MassDevice Q&A: GenomeQuest CEO Ron Ranauro
Ron Ranauro spent the better part of two decades in the computer industry, watching as the personal computer and the Internet transformed the business. It’s growing maturity coincided with early efforts to sequence the human genome, leading Ranauro in the late 1990s to apply his computing chops to the life science scene.
MassDevice spoke with Ranauro as GenomeQuest launched an application programming interface that allows developers to customize apps for their labs’ research programs. We asked him about the API, what sets his venture apart from other sequencing data management firms (hint: it’s in the clouds) and got his take on the ethical implications of widespread access to genome sequencing technology.
Amicas jilts Thoma Bravo, pays $9 million breakup fee
Amicas Inc. (NSDQ:AMCS) jilted its erstwhile buyer, private equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC, in favor of a higher offer from Merge Healthcare Inc. (NSDQ:MRGE) that it initially met with disdain.
iCad’s Q4 profits steady despite sales slide
Earnings at iCad Inc. (NSDQ:ICAD) changed little during the final quarter of 2009, despite an 11 percent drop in revenues from year-ago levels.
A sharp decline in film-based revenues coupled with falling sales for iCad’s digital computer-aided detection business undercut gains in service and supply revenues during the period. Film-related revenues fell $1 million, or 45 percent, to $1.2 million during the quarter from the $2.2 million reported last year, while sales within its digital computer operations dropped about $700,000, or 11 percent, to $5.6 million.
Amicas, Merge trade words over merger
Amicas Inc. (NSDQ:AMCS) and Merge Healthcare Inc. (NSDQ:MRGE) are fighting a war of words over Merge’s unsolicited offer to buy out the Boston-based imaging data management firm, which hopes instead to consummate a deal it already has with Thoma Bravo LLC.
Yesterday, Amicas called the Merge offer of $6.05 per share, or about $248 million, "risky" and "illusory," despite being a roughly 13 percent premium over the private equity firm’s ofer opf $5.35 per share (about $217 million).
Boston Scientific’s largest shareholder buys a big piece of IMS Health
Paulson & Co. ponied up big bucks last quarter to buy a major stake in one of the biggest players in healthcare data, while holding steady as Boston Scientific Corp.’s (NYSE: BSX) largest institutional shareholder, according to filings with the federal Securities & Exchange Commission.
The New York-based investment fund run by John Paulson unveiled an 18 million share stake in Norwalk, Conn.-based IMS Health Inc. (NYSE:RX), which provides data on pharmaceutical markets and doctors’ prescribing habits to most of the pharma industry’s biggest players. The Paulson buy-in is good for about 9.87 percent of IMS and is valued at about $395 million, according to IMS’s opening price today.
Phase Forward OKs $25 million stock buyback after closing prior plan
Phase Forward Inc. (NSDQ: PFWD), having closed a prior, $40 million stock buyback plan, initiated a second, $25 million share repurchasing program.
The Waltham, Mass.-based clinical data management provider said it may repurchase shares “from time to time at prevailing prices in the open market or in negotiated transactions off the market” under the new plan, using cash on hand or generated from future operations to fund the buys.