Phase Forward

About Phase Forward

Phase Forward, founded in 1997 by Paul Bleicher, was a key player in shifting the pharmaceutical clinical trial industry from paper-based data collection to web-based electronic data capture (EDC). Bleicher, a physician-scientist with an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Microbiology, transitioned from a career in academic medicine at Harvard Medical School to the private sector, aiming to apply data solutions to life sciences. His experience at an early contract research organization and a biotech startup informed his vision for Phase Forward.

The company specialized in providing integrated data collection and management solutions tailored for clinical trials and drug safety. Its primary clients included biopharmaceutical companies, medical device firms, contract research organizations (CROs), and regulatory agencies. Phase Forward operated on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, offering a suite of applications that managed the clinical development process, from early-phase trials through to regulatory submission and post-marketing surveillance. This business model provided recurring revenue and established the company as a mission-critical vendor in the life sciences sector.

Phase Forward's core offering was its Integrated Clinical Research Suite. A key product within this suite was InForm, an EDC platform that provided comprehensive data entry, real-time edit-checking, query management, and robust reporting capabilities. The InForm Global Trial Management (GTM) solution was designed for complex, global trials, featuring a user interface that streamlined workflows and supported multiple languages. Another significant product family was Empirica, which focused on pharmacovigilance and risk management. This included Empirica Trace for adverse event reporting and Empirica Study for detecting safety signals in clinical trial data. The company's technology was utilized in over 10,000 clinical trials, involving more than one million participants across hundreds of organizations worldwide.

A major milestone in the company's history was its acquisition by Oracle in April 2010 for approximately $685 million. The acquisition was a strategic move by Oracle to expand its Health Sciences Global Business Unit, integrating Phase Forward's applications to create a more comprehensive offering for the life sciences industry. Following the acquisition, Phase Forward's management and employees became part of this Oracle division.