Covance Chooses Phase Forward Technology for Web-based Clinical Trials; Web-Based Solution Focuses on Clinical Support Services for Pharmaceutical Industry.

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 1999--

Phase Forward Incorporated, the leading provider of Web-based solutions for clinical data management, today announced that Covance Inc.a global leader in contract drug development, will license the Phase Forward InForm technology for use as a key element of their clinical research and clinical support services offering to help pharmaceutical companies accelerate their clinical trial processes. The agreement includes joint product development, joint marketing, education and training, and support initiatives.

Phase Forward's InForm is the de facto industry standard for Web-based clinical trial data collection and management. Completely XML-based, InForm is currently being used in many major, global clinical trials. Covance will use Phase Forward's InForm technology to offer solutions targeted at improving the quality and capacity of Phase I-IV clinical trials. In addition, Covance and Phase Forward will work on providing a common access to the data generated by Covance's other core clinical support services such as central laboratory services, centralized ECG, and clinical packaging. This single Internet-based data conduit will convey clinical trial data, CRF data, lab data, etc. under a common user presentation to investigators, monitors and clinical trial scientists at pharmaceutical companies. This intuitive, easy to use system will significantly reduce the cost of user training and provide access to the key information that will give pharmaceutical companies visibility and control of the data and significantly enhance the efficiency of their clinical trials.

"The competitive challenges of the healthcare industry are driving the adoption of technology and an evolution of the processes surrounding clinical trial data management. The unique combination of the Phase Forward technology and Covance clinical research expertise will help pharmaceutical companies accelerate the clinical trial processes and overcome these challenges," said Shiv Tasker, president and CEO of Phase Forward. "This agreement with Covance validates our vision of the Internet as the future of clinical trials."

"As the emerging leader in the drug product development services, Covance is strategically positioned with the expertise and worldwide resources to help deploy this technology to improve the productivity and speed of the drug development process," said Iris Houlihan, Covance's executive director, clinical data management. "The majority of the clinical trials in the world today use our central lab services. We collect more than half of the data associated with most trials and have been using the Internet to provide access to that data for the past 2 years. Partnering with Phase Forward completes the picture allowing us to offer a unique solution to our customers."

About Phase Forward

Phase Forward Incorporated, a privately held company headquartered in Waltham, MA, offers clinical trial data collection and management software and services using Internet technologies to collect and manage essential clinical trial data in an efficient and timely way. With this web-based software and service, sponsors of clinical trials can access clinical trial data in real-time, and begin data analysis almost immediately after the last patient has visited the clinic. By eliminating the need to transcribe and process traditional paper data forms, clinical trial sponsors can accelerate the delivery of new and beneficial drugs and medical devices to market, and maximize their revenue potential. For more information, visit Phase Forward at www.phaseforward.com .

InForm, InPhase, Phase Forward and On Your Mark. Get Net. Go! are trademarks of Phase Forward Incorporated. All other trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.