HCL Tech bags order from Australia clinical research firm

MUMBAI: IT firm HCL Technologies on Monday made an entry into the Australian life sciences market by signing a deal with clinical research organisation Novotech to provide a software solution that will help the firm collect and track relevant information about clinical trials.

The company will implement Oracle's Siebel Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS) in Novotech over the next few months, HCL Technologies said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

However, the company did not disclose the financial details of the order.

"This marks HCL Technologies' first Australian life sciences customer win," the company said.

The Siebel CTMS will support the complete spectrum of Novotech's clinical trial management services across the Asia -Pacific. The software will create a centralised repository of relevant information about clinical trials.

The Siebel CTMS also offers business aligned services in three micro-verticals: medical devices, pharmaceuticals and chemicals and healthcare.

"With more than 2,000 professionals servicing the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) region and a broad set of global, multi-vendor capabilities, HCL will help Novotech to become more agile in today's competitive environment," HCL Technologies Executive Vice-President for APAC & MEA Virender Aggarwal said.

HCL Technologies will work with Novotech in phases, starting by assessing the company's current proprietary clinical trial management system and providing a benchmark for where the system should be in terms of scalability and flexibility.

"HCL is a reliable IT partner for many pharmaceutical and biotech organisations across the world and comes with the right mix of business and system experience to serve our requirements," Novotech Chief Executive Officer Alek Safarian said.