The Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety (ACRES) has formed a strategic alliance with Fujitsu, a global information and communication technology company, to address challenges facing the development of medicines and health-related research endeavors.

Fujitsu has an important presence in healthcare information systems both in Japan and globally. One of its current activities supports the search for new molecular compounds through the use of simulations being conducted by the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) at the University of Tokyo. This effort aims to accelerate medicine development, without relying solely on traditional clinical trials, through innovative application of IT and high-performance computer simulation.

Fujitsu and ACRES are establishing a technical working party, the ACRES-Fujitsu Technology Innovation Group, to explore closer alignment of electronic medical records (EMRs) and clinical research information systems, an essential step toward enabling innovative systems capabilities, including remote risk-based monitoring, online electronic auditing and real-time pharmacovigilance safety monitoring.

The ACRES-Fujitsu partnership is part of a larger collaborative effort, the ACRES Technology Consortium, to better envision how information and communications technology (ICT) can be more innovatively and effectively applied within the healthcare and health research domains in Japan and across the ACRES Global Technology Network, in support of ACRES’ global system for clinical research.

ACRES, a global nonprofit, integrates and leverages the expertise and investments of research stakeholders worldwide to build and maintain an open, shared global system for clinical trials conducted according to the highest standards of safety, quality and efficiency. Fujitsu joins more than 60 organizations in ACRES’ rapidly growing multi-stakeholder alliance—people and groups committed to excellence and safety in clinical research around the world collaboratively building a global system.

“We are honored to have Fujitsu as our newest ally and strategic partner,” said Al Pacino, ACRES vice president for collaborative network development. “Fujitsu’s expertise brings extraordinary resources to ACRES’ global technology initiatives—this is a major milestone. Successful integration of electronic health records and clinical trials information greatly furthers ACRES’ goal to get safe, effective medicines to the people who need them as efficiently as possible.”

Head of Fujitsu’s Next Generation Healthcare Innovation Center, Hirofumi Gouda, said, “Fujitsu has high expectations that ACRES’ efforts and the Global Network System will not only greatly improve Quality Cost Delivery (QCD) in the related areas in clinical trials and clinical research, but also become a very important collaborative platform for creating a new knowledge base, including an evolving collaboration with stakeholders in healthcare and life science worldwide.”

ACRES president and CEO, Dr. Greg Koski, said, “Emerging from the efforts of Dr. Kyoko Imamura and our colleagues at ACRES Japan, including its president, Dr. Fumimaro Takaku, our partnership with Fujitsu is a landmark event. The decision of one of the world’s leading technology companies to join the ACRES Alliance attests to the power of systems thinking and multi-sector collaboration. The world of medicines development is undergoing transformation, and Fujitsu is helping ACRES envision and build the future.”