MDS Pharma Services Adopts SAS Technology for Clinical Trial Data Warehousing and Analysis

MDS Pharma Services Adopts SAS(R) Technology for Clinical Trial Data Warehousing and Analysis

Innovative system gives clients real-time access to data, offers secure data warehousing and expedites data set conversions for electronic
regulatory submissions

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - MDS Pharma Services, a leading provider of innovative drug discovery and development solutions, has adopted the SAS(R) Drug Development tool to provide a centralized, integrated system for managing, analyzing, reporting and reviewing clinical research data. SAS Drug Development technology is being implemented across MDS Pharma Services from the pre-clinical line of business through Phase IV to integrate worldwide work flows. It also expedites conversion of data sets into the format established by the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) for electronic regulatory submissions.

"This powerful tool will significantly improve our internal operational efficiency and enhance our ability to provide quality, on-time service to clients at all phases of their drug development process," said MDS Pharma Services President David Spaight. "It allows clients to view their study data even as it is being updated, serves as a secure repository of legacy clinical trial data, and can convert that data into standard CDISC format for electronic submission to regulators as part of a New Drug Application."

With the SAS Drug Development system, MDS Pharma Services can offer medium to large pharmaceutical industry clients the ability to combine historical clinical trial data from a variety of sources and studies, convert it to a common format and analyze it to identify patient safety issues or new demographic groups with commercial potential. For biotech clients, this tool will enable the integration of all available trial datasets and their conversion into a unified data package for due diligence, subsequent licensing or joint venturing with a potential commercial development partner.

"Collaboration within the R&D process must include shared visibility to information," said Jason Burke, worldwide director of Health and Life Sciences at SAS. "The aggregation and analysis of standardized data across a compound's lifecycle establishes a foundation for improving pharmaceutical R&D, and organizations like MDS Pharma Services that can operationalize these improvements have a distinct competitive advantage."

SAS Drug Development provides a centralized, integrated system for managing, analyzing, reporting and reviewing clinical research information. The solution enables life sciences organizations to get products to market faster by more effectively assessing the safety and efficacy of research compounds. The solution also facilitates collaboration across trials, phases and therapeutic areas.

About MDS Pharma Services

MDS Pharma Services is committed to delivering quality service on time. We offer a full spectrum of resources to meet the drug discovery and development needs of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. With numerous facilities strategically located around the world, we apply advanced scientific and technological expertise throughout the drug discovery and development process - from lead optimization, pre-IND research, early clinical research (bioequivalence, phases I-IIa) and bioanalysis through to global clinical development (phases IIb-IV), central lab and centralized cardiac services. For more information, visit our website at http://www.mdsps.com.

MDS Pharma Services is a business unit of MDS Inc. (TSX: MDS; NYSE: MDZ), a global life sciences company that provides market-leading products and services that our customers need for the development of drugs and diagnosis and treatment of disease. We are a leading global provider of pharmaceutical contract research, medical isotopes for molecular imaging, radiotherapeutics, and analytical instruments. MDS has more than 5,500 highly skilled people in 29 countries. Find out more at http://www.mdsinc.com or by calling 1-888-MDS-7222, 24 hours a day.

SOURCE MDS Pharma Services