Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH), a leading provider of global IT and business process outsourcing services, today announced an agreement with AstraZeneca to support the company’s drive for greater efficiencies in Clinical Data Management. AstraZeneca is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, widely recognized for its life-changing medicines. The contract is for a period of five years with anticipated revenues of approximately $95 million.

Under this agreement, Cognizant will provide a broad spectrum of centralized data management services for AstraZeneca’s global clinical development programs, including data management planning, clinical study set-up for electronic data capture, medical coding, adverse event reconciliation, clinical data management, and training for the clinical sites and investigators. The intention to centralize these services was announced by AstraZeneca last year as part of its effort to drive R&D efficiencies.

“We are strongly committed to leveraging our deep understanding of the pharmaceutical industry, our leadership in clinical management solutions and our global footprint to help AstraZeneca’s drive to innovate and continue to make a real difference in the way it delivers healthcare,” said Francisco D’Souza, President and CEO, Cognizant. “We will help AstraZeneca centralize and streamline its clinical data management operations through improved process standardization, consistency of delivery, economies of scale and cost savings that AstraZeneca can reinvest to support the fast, innovative and efficient development of their R&D programs.”

“Our existing, long-standing relationship with Cognizant supports our view that they are the best partner to deliver clinical data management services for us,” said Anders Ekblom, Vice President of Clinical Development, AstraZeneca. “Delivering efficiencies through reshaping our business is one of our key strategic priorities.”

In 2004 AstraZeneca engaged Cognizant for other business services across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. These services encompass a broad range of well-integrated business process and technology solutions that span discovery, clinical, manufacturing and commercial operations. 

Sourced From: Cognizant