Exco InTouch, a Nottingham, England-based clinical trial technology vendor responsible for powering early, influential mobile-enabled trials, has been acquired. ERT, a 45-year-old global clinical trial services company, purchased Exco last week for an undisclosed amount.
While both companies provide technology and services to support clinical trials, their focus areas are different, with ERT focusing on electronic clinical outcome assessments (eCOA) and Exco focusing on patient engagement and data collection via mobile apps.
"With this acquisition, we have combined our science-driven solutions that are delivered across every modality with patient-driven solutions that open up the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) market to create a seamless approach to eCOA, patient engagement and digital health,” James Corrigan, president and CEO of ERT, said in a statement. “Exco InTouch has a great history of innovation, and since its inception has made significant contributions to the eClinical landscape. We are delighted to welcome them to the ERT team, and look forward to working together to deliver market-leading offerings that solve our clients’ most complex challenges.”
Exco InTouch was the technology vendor for Pfizer's 2011 mobile-enabled clinical trial, one of the first efforts to use mobile technology to decentralize a drug trial, and in doing so made a name for itself as an enabler of remote, mobile clinical trials.
The company has also worked with many other pharma notables, both to support clinical trials and to help them build patient-facing apps. For example, Exco launched a patient-facing app called MeAndMyCOPD in partnership with the NHS and AstraZeneca in 2013. Just this year, they worked with Novartis to launch an app for people with chronic hives.
Exco InTouch has raised $9.7 million over two rounds of funding, most recently in 2014 when it received a $5 million investment from Albion Ventures and Scottish Equity Partners.
“ERT is the eCOA industry leader with a strong history in developing novel eClinical products and technologies to minimize risk and uncertainty in clinical research,” Tim Davis, founder and CEO of Exco InTouch, said in a statement. “They were an obvious choice when we were assessing our strategic business development options. Now biopharmaceutical companies can turn to one company for all of their eCOA, patient engagement and commercialization needs, with confidence that their programs will have the right level of experience and expertise, anticipatory oversight, and adaptive problem solving required to ensure the most reliable results.”
