Merck and Pfizer join Accenture's Life Sciences Cloud Coalition

Accenture ($ACN) has joined with some big names for its R&D analytics platform. Eisai, Merck ($MRK) and Pfizer ($PFE) have signed up to collaborate on further development of the system, which is built on a mix of technologies from Accenture and Oracle ($ORCL).

The three pharma companies are part of what Accenture calls the Life Sciences Cloud Coalition, a group of businesses that have input into future development of the platform. Accenture thinks that by pairing Oracle's data warehousing and analytics experience with direct input from pharma companies, it can create a platform that irons out some of the inefficiencies in drug development.

"New technologies, analytic capabilities and a willingness by drug manufacturers to collaborate can help mitigate rising costs," Kevin Julian, managing director of Accenture Accelerated R&D Services, said in a statement. "These can be leveraged to provide a much clearer view of the clinical results by collecting and analyzing data and information in real time, beginning with the development cycle."

Accenture has built the platform around two data storage hubs. One of the hubs gives users a space to store and view clinical and scientific data in a way that Accenture thinks will help companies make better, earlier go/no-go decisions. Tools for extract, transform and load (ETL), analytics and visualization are built into the platform. The second hub contains operational metrics on the running of clinical trials and management of vendors, a resource that could help spot inefficiencies.

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