• SKIP TO CONTENT
  • SKIP NAVIGATION
  • Patient Resources
    • COVID-19 Patient Resource Center
    • Clinical Trials
    • Search Clinical Trials
    • Patient Notification System
    • What is Clinical Research?
    • Volunteering for a Clinical Trial
    • Understanding Informed Consent
    • Useful Resources
    • FDA Approved Drugs
  • Professional Resources
    • Research Center Profiles
    • Clinical Trial Listings
    • Market Research
    • FDA Approved Drugs
    • Training Guides
    • Books
    • eLearning
    • Events
    • Newsletters
    • JobWatch
    • White Papers
    • SOPs
    • eCFR and Guidances
  • White Papers
  • Trial Listings
  • Advertise
  • COVID-19
  • iConnect
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Home » UBC’s new Bracket division makes Texas ePRO company Arrowhead its first acquisition

UBC’s new Bracket division makes Texas ePRO company Arrowhead its first acquisition

July 18, 2011
CenterWatch Staff

Bracket, a division of United BioSource Corp. (UBC) established just last month, has made its first acquisition: Arrowhead Electronic Healthcare, a privately-held, Austin, Texas-based electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) technologies company. The terms were not disclosed.

Adam Butler, Bracket’s associate vice president of client services, said UBC and Arrowhead have partnered on and off for trials over the last five years.

“They have developed some really excellent software and tools across a variety of technologies, including smart phones, tablets and PDAs,” said Butler. “There are a lot of integration opportunities with our existing tools.”

Bracket was formed when Bethesda, Md.-based UBC, owned by pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions, decided to cordon off two of its service areas and rename them. Bracket includes the former UBC Clinical Technologies and UBC Specialty Clinical Services divisions. Bracket’s target market is CROs in need of outsourcing services such as IVR/IWR, ePro, virtual investigator meetings, site verification services, rater and CRA training, data quality and surveillance and endpoint administration services. And possibly as part of one platform.

“We’re headed for a broad platform of data collection tools that will be available for use in all sorts of clinical trials, no matter what the specific needs are,” said Butler.

Butler said the Arrowhead buy is the first significant acquisition in the ePRO market, and he expects it to trigger more such deals.

“ePRO is growing rapidly, and there has been little to no M&A activity in the space,” he said. “We expect this to change, and an acquisition of an ePRO vendor is likely to trigger lots of positive conversations about growth in this sector.”

Arrowhead is 10 years old and has 24 employees. The company’s ePRO-LOG software platform is used in more than 60 countries on smart phones, tablet computers, the Web and text-messaging applications. Arrowhead will remain in Austin, said Butler, adding that its offerings are very agile.

“Their questionnaires and patient-reported outcomes are very configurable, so you can make a change to a question and deploy it out to patients very easily on multiple platforms in a few days,” he said. “Other systems require a much more complicated process, and it takes weeks to months to deploy out to patients.”

Use of ePRO is expected to rise from 14% of all trials now to about 22% of trials in 2012, said Butler.

UBC was formed in 2003, and in 2010 was bought by Medco Health Solutions, the largest pharmacy benefits manager in the U.S. Since its inception, said Butler, UBC has expanded via acquisitions and organic growth. That is expected to continue, with more acquisitions likely to be announced before year end.

Suz Redfearn

Upcoming Events

  • 25May

    2022 WCG Avoca Quality & Innovation Summit: Own the Future

  • 28Jun

    Effective Root Cause Analysis and CAPA Investigations for the Life Sciences

  • 16Oct

    WCG MAGI's Clinical Research Hybrid Conference - 2022 West

Featured Products

  • Spreadsheet Validation: Tools and Techniques to Make Data in Excel Compliant

    Spreadsheet Validation: Tools and Techniques to Make Data in Excel Compliant

  • Surviving an FDA GCP Inspection

    Surviving an FDA GCP Inspection: Resources for Investigators, Sponsors, CROs and IRBs

Featured Stories

  • Protocol-360x240.png

    Avoid Deviations by Making Protocol Review a Team Effort

  • SelectionProcess-360x240.png

    Give Us a Voice: Sites Clamor for a Say on Vendor Selection

  • Convince-360x240.png

    Use Data and Details to Convince Site Leadership to Add Staff

  • AsktheExpertsBadge-360x240.png

    Ask the Experts: Listing Trial Staff and Others on the Statement of Investigator

Standard Operating Procedures for Risk-Based Monitoring of Clinical Trials

The information you need to adapt your monitoring plan to changing times.

Learn More Here
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Footer Logo

300 N. Washington St., Suite 200, Falls Church, VA 22046, USA

Phone 617.948.5100 – Toll free 866.219.3440

Copyright © 2022. All Rights Reserved. Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing