NextDocs and Microsoft pushing clinical trials to the cloud

Like a good tech partner should, NextDocs has stuck close to Microsoft ($MSFT) and its software platforms for years. Now the relationship has gone mobile as NextDocs seeks to piggyback on Microsoft's cloud technology to put clinical trials software in the hands of study investigators and staff wherever they operate and regardless of the device they are using.

NextDocs, which built its flagship document-management software as an integrated tool for pharma companies to use on Microsoft SharePoint, says that the company and Microsoft have demonstrated the use of NextDocs' Trial Exchange on Windows 8. Conshohocken, PA-based NextDocs recently launched Trial Exchange and has touted the use of the software as a way for life sciences players to navigate the mobile world with security and compliance with regulations.

Tech demonstrations aren't big news. Yet NextDocs has been one of the companies to watch in the clinical trials software arena for years, having made inroads in the tough-to-penetrate life sciences industry with clinical trials software based on SharePoint and plenty of other ties to Redmond. Last year NextDocs tapped Microsoft vet Nitin Bhatia, a lead player in Office 365, to head worldwide services. And in 2011 the company scored $10.3 million in a Series A round from OpenView Venture Partners, gaining a big endorsement for its strategy to partner with the software giant.

"We live in an ever more global, mobile and connected world that can pose many business challenges but also presents opportunities," Matt Walz, NextDocs' tech chief, said in a statement. "The native Windows 8 app for Trial Exchange allows life sciences professionals to readily access and contribute documents from any device anywhere in the world. It makes clinical trial document management solutions easy-to-use without sacrificing compliance, security or mobility."

BioClinica is another clinical trials software player to partner with Microsoft, yet many other players have gone other routes and found success.

- here's NextDocs' release

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