On the path from breakthrough to cure, clinical trials present a conundrum: When one is successful, the next one gets bigger, more expensive and ultimately more challenging.
Greenphire,
a company that first won big name pharmaceutical clients by helping automate payrolls for clinical trials, is continuing to mitigate that problem. The King of Prussia-based company is partnering with international corporations
IMS Health and
Oracle Health Sciences to bring payment management solutions to the rest of the workflow process.
"We're working towards developing a whole system," explains Shana Jalbert, director of marketing. "It's part of a broader strategy to meet the entire financial [picture] of clinical trials so clients can focus on the trials themselves."
The expansion couldn’t have come at a better time. Clinical trials are increasingly global and one trial can have hundreds of sites. Those in charge of operations must negotiate multiple currencies, taxation policies and regulatory compliances at a cost of up to $125 per payment. Additionally, the Sunshine Act now requires trials to track and report every expenditure.
Greenphire's software,
eClinicalGPS (Global Payment Solutions), executes and records complex payments. When added to IMS-Health's budgeting services, the product provides a platform for spending analysis. If a certain number of MRIs are needed, for example, IMS-Health can set the cost expectation and Greenphire will deliver the reality. eClinicalGPS is also expected to round out Oracle Health Science's remote data capturing services -- used to track real-time costs -- by automating necessary payments.
"We're making that connection between the different phases of clinical trials, from planning one to actually running one," says Jalbert. "Clients have access to all the analytics, so they can actually see how it's going."
In their sixth year, Greenphire has acquired over 300 clients, including several top 20 pharma companies. The company has grown its revenue by 300 percent in the past three years; they recently opened an office in London and are actively seeking Python developers for their Philly team.
Source: Shana Jalbert, Greenphire
Writer: Dana Henry