SOUDERTON, Pennsylvania, March 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Almac Group and Exco InTouch announced today that Almac's Clinical Technologies business unit, the leading provider of IXRS(R) (Interactive Voice and Web Response) services relating to patient and drug supply management, has formed an exclusive integrated patient management alliance with Exco InTouch, an innovative firm specializing in patient recruitment, retention, compliance and ePRO services. The alliance will be focused on the integration of both technology and processes by both firms to deliver patient management, compliance, retention, and ePRO service offerings to sponsors of clinical trials.

The Almac-Exco InTouch offering serves a pressing need in the drug development process: Engaging, retaining, and enhancing compliance of patients from the earliest stages of recruitment and throughout the course of a trial. Exco InTouch will work with Almac to seamlessly integrate its market leading retention and compliance technology solutions with Almac's IXRS(R) technology, an integrated phone and web platform. This unique industry offering will allow patients to receive messages for key elements of their required study conduct using Short Message Service (SMS) text messages, emails, or phone calls. Examples of messages include reminders to attend clinic visits or to fill out patient diaries, medication prompts, notices to attend appointments in a fasted state, to return unused medication, and even encouragement messages to keep all patients motivated to participate in the clinical trial.

The Almac-Exco InTouch alliance offers sponsors the benefit of alleviating clinical trial site personnel of significant administrative burdens and activities relating to protocol compliance. Moreover, it provides biopharmaceutical firms a way to ease a patient's journey through the clinical trial process using familiar technologies that are both popular and ubiquitous, including phone, web, text messages and email. The solution keeps patients on track during a trial and offers them an "electronic tap on the shoulder" in their native languages to help drive compliance. As trials become increasingly more complex and global, the application of such cost-effective technologies to drive compliance and enhance clinical trial site productivity will serve a vital role in the drug development process.

Almac President Jim Murphy comments on the alliance with Exco InTouch: "The alliance between Almac and Exco InTouch provides sponsors with a practical, cost-effective solution to managing patients during a clinical trial. Our joint solutions will help enhance patient recruitment, retention, and compliance, three highly critical areas of concern for our clients."

Tim Davis, CEO of Exco InTouch describes the relationship as "the perfect integration of complementary technology products, adding "we are delighted to work with Almac's clinical technologies business on such a powerful mobile and interactive response solution. Rarely do you have an opportunity to employ a solution that will help all trial participants, the sponsor, the site, and the patient. Our clients are already looking forward to taking advantage of this unique Almac-Exco InTouch offering."

Almac and Exco will be featuring a demo of their integrated services at the upcoming conferences - Euro DIA, March 28th to 30th and Partnerships in Clinical Trials, March 30th to April 1st.

About Almac Group:

The Almac Group provides a broad range of services from R&D, biomarker discovery and development, API manufacture, formulation development, clinical trial supply and IXRS technology (IVRS/IWRS), to commercial-scale manufacture. Almac provides services to more than 600 companies, including all the world leaders in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.

The company employs over 3,000 individuals and is headquartered in Craigavon, Northern Ireland. US operations are based in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and California. Almac has now moved into its new $120m North American Headquarters located in Souderton PA.

Almac's Clinical Technologies business unit specializes in interactive technology and service solutions to increase the quality and efficiency of clinical trials. Our solutions include Interactive Voice and Web Response Systems (IXRS(R)) for patient randomization and drug assignment, patient and clinical supplies management, electronic-patient-reported-outcomes data collection, and Web drug reconciliation. Almac's technologies have been deployed in over 1600 clinical trials, incorporating over 1.5 million patients in over 80 countries, and more than 60 languages.

For more information about the Almac Group, please visit http://www.almacgroup.com or e-mail info@almacgroup.com

About Exco InTouch:

Exco InTouch is the leading provider of interactive patient communication solutions using internet and cell phone technology. Using a combination of software and services, Exco InTouch offers BioPharma sponsors, CROs and patient recruitment agencies the opportunity to improve patient recruitment, retention and compliance using timely notifications, alerts and two-way messages.

Additionally, Exco collects electronic patient reported outcomes (ePRO) and diary data using standard cell phone technology which is both cost effective for sponsors and extremely easy and convenient for trial subjects. These solutions are currently being used by hundreds of thousands of patients in over 70 countries, delivered in the local language and are fully compliant with HIPAA regulations, FDA CFR 21 Part 11 and all electronic communication privacy directives.

SOURCE Almac Group