eClinical news in Brief

Medidata Solutions has released the newest version of its flagship electronic clinical data capture (EDC) product, Rave 5.6.2, which now has its existing eLearning module incorporated directly into it. As a result, investigator sites have around the clock web access to the eLearning programme and are able to quickly and easily become trained on Rave, speeding study start-up and patient data gathering, the firm said. AstraZeneca is a sponsors who has already begun to take advantage of the tool's new benefits: "As Medidata Rave continues to play an increasingly important role in our clinical trial functions, it has been critical for us to establish an efficient training program, especially with some of our largest studies where we have to bring multiple investigators and sites up to speed,"​ said Louise Archer, Data Management Technology Process Manager at AstraZeneca. "Medidata Rave's enhanced eLearning tool will provide us with customizable, easy and fast training and user education directly within the Medidata Rave system, ultimately leading to better trained investigators, faster study starts and higher cost savings." ​Additionally, Octagon has announced the availability of StartingPoint 3.0, the latest version of its collection over 200 submission document authoring templates, which provides content and format guidance and automation of traditional authoring tasks. The new version features a document validation button, which helps users to ensure that formatting is compliant with organisational standards; document information for field codes, which is useful in the development of large documents such as clinical study reports; additional content templates for the US and Europe; among other things. Meanwhile, ClinPhone has revealed that it will use this year's European Drug information Association (DIA) meeting in March to unveil the combination of its EDC and interactive voice response (IVR) and interactive web response (IWR) platforms. This "unique application"​ brings together its DataLabs and Randomization and Trial Supply Management systems into one integrated solution, the firm said. In other news, MDS Pharma Services has implemented a study management system called Apollo, which it developed for its Global Central Lab business. According to the firm, Apollo provides a single interface for all aspects of protocol management, including protocol specifications, kit building, sample reception and test ordering, query identification and resolution, customizable results flagging, report distribution, frozen sample management, data extraction and invoicing. "Apollo is a unified, web-based study management tool for secure and transparent tracking of study samples and results and gives clients real-time, worldwide access to their study data virtually anywhere, anytime,"​ the firm said. "The system strengthens the "chain of custody" - from specimen collection to central lab receipt, to testing and sample storage - further improving the efficiency and quality of studies managed."​