Forte Research Systems Expands Partnerships to Define Standards for CTMS-to-eIRB Systems Integration

MADISON, Wis., Nov. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Forte Research Systems, Inc. announced today the formation of two partnerships with software system vendors, TOPAZ Technologies and Tech Software/BEC. In addition to Forte's recently announced partnership with InfoEd Global, these new agreements set the stage for seamless systems integration, which will benefit the companies' common customers and the clinical research community as a whole.

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"Duplicate data entry between CTMS and eIRB systems has placed a non-trivial burden on research personnel for some time," said Srini Kalluri, President, CEO, and Chief Customer Experience Officer at Forte Research Systems. "The pre-integration of systems contributes to increased efficiencies not just for our customers—but for the industry as a whole."

TOPAZ Technologies' Human Protocols and BEC's IRBManager systems are both solutions in the electronic Institutional Review Board (eIRB) market that have customers in common with Forte's OnCore^® system. The companies have signed partnership agreements with Forte and have begun defining what data will be exchanged with OnCore via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

"Integrating with the OnCore system fits perfectly with our strategy to fill a product and expertise gap with a complementary best-of-breed solution. TOPAZ has been focused on compliance solutions for research for over 30 years and we're excited to be bringing our technology and customers together with those of Forte in this proactive venture to provide better solutions to users," said Michael Peters, Vice President of TOPAZ Technologies.

The goal of the partnerships is to develop standards for data exchange that can be used with any CTMS and any eIRB system.

"This strategy is much more efficient than spending resources to develop a one-off integration between a single CTMS and a single eIRB," said Tony O'Hare, PhD, Vice President of Engineering and Chief Collaboration Officer at Forte Research Systems. "With so many vendors at the table, we have a unique opportunity to develop and define industry-wide standards."

Walden Leverich, CEO at Tech Software/BEC, predicts the partnerships will improve efficiencies, saying, "We look forward to working with Forte as we continue to develop and mature the interface between IRBManager and OnCore. By providing a simple yet powerful integration between the CTMS and the compliance and oversight functions, we can increase efficiencies and provide better outcomes for the clinical research community."

"TOPAZ, Tech Software, and InfoEd are demonstrating their thought leadership by coming to the table and working to improve systems integration for their customers. It is our hope that other CTMS and eIRB vendors will adopt a similar strategy and we invite them to leverage our work for the benefit of their customers as well," Kalluri said.

For information about the OnCore clinical research informatics platform, contact Forte Research Systems at (608) 826-6002 or visit the company online at www.ForteResearch.com.

About Forte Research Systems, Inc.
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, Forte Research Systems, Inc. develops clinical and translational research management software. The company's flagship product, the OnCore® system, is the nation's most widely adopted clinical research platform among academic research organizations and cancer centers. The OnCore platform is the result of over a decade of experience working closely with large research organizations, including institutes funded by the National Institute of Health's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program and forty percent of the NCI designated cancer centers. The company's newest offering, the cloud-based Allegro® product line, is built for clinical research operations excellence with no software to install and no hardware to maintain.

SOURCE Forte Research Systems, Inc.