InVentiv Health has started using Veeva Systems’ ($VEEV) study start-up application to accelerate trial site activation. The deal builds on inVentiv’s use of Veeva Vault eTMF and, as such, provides a blueprint for how the software player can make inroads into eClinical by upselling to existing customers.
Veeva introduced its study start-up application late last year to provide clinical research teams with a way to collate and manage all of the documents and resources that go into getting a trial off the ground. For CROs such as inVentiv, part of the appeal lies in the ability to share information with sponsors and sites. When paired to automated global workflows and metrics showing the progress toward country and site activation, the pitch was strong enough to persuade inVentiv to start using the application.
“We recognized the value an innovative technology solution could have in knocking down hurdles that slow progress during the study start-up phase, where improvements can have a significant impact on overall trial results,” inVentiv CIO Rachel Stahler said in a statement. “InVentiv identified Veeva as a best-of-breed platform that can maximize efficiencies and accelerate the delivery of much needed drugs to patients.”
Veeva has built the study start-up application to dovetail with its eTMF offering, which inVentiv already uses to manage the electronic trial master files generated in the trials it oversees. InVentiv signed up to use Veeva Vault eTMF two years ago. And, with that deal partly tying inVentiv to Veeva’s software suite, it has decided it is best served by turning to the same company to meet its study start-up needs.
The pathway taken by inVentiv provides a blueprint for how Veeva can gain ground in eClinical. While Veeva will be hardpressed to get companies to embrace its whole suite from day one, it does stand a chance of signing them up to a single product and then pushing to expand the deals. This mirrors the approach taken by Medidata ($MDSO), which used its Rave EDC system as a beachhead for growth of its other products.
With Veeva set to introduce its own EDC system, the same strategy could now provide a threat to Medidata’s dominance of its core market.