Less than a month after announcing the acquisition of eResearch Technology’s EDC offerings, eClinical provider OmniComm Solutions has acquired another EDC business, and chief operating officer Stephen Johnson says this latest deal won’t be the company’s last.

“Our strategy of going out and acquiring complementary technologies is definitely something we’re committed to,” Johnson said.

OmniComm announced last week the acquisition of UK-based Logos Technologies, Ltd., a subsidiary of Logos Technologies Holding, for an undisclosed sum. Logos, which provides phase I EDC services comprising data capture, patient recruitment and patient screening, became OmniComm’s strategic partner a year ago. Although the companies had already integrated their technologies, this deal makes OmniComm one of only a few companies offering fully integrated EDC service in the phase I space, Johnson said.

“[Logos’] EDC solution is totally different from ours and ERT’s. It’s designed specifically for phase I clinics. Phase I clinics have very unique needs,” Johnson explained. “In a phase I clinic, data has to be collected in real time. When I say real-time, I mean up-to-the-minute, sometimes up-to-the-second. With most EDC systems, they are usually reactive systems, so you collect a bunch of information, then, when you have time, you key it into the EDC system. With the phase I clinics, you can’t key the data in even an hour later. You need to key it in the second you get it… Otherwise, the data is no good.”

OmniComm has provided EDC services for phase I studies in the past, but these services could only be offered on studies that didn’t require up-to-the minute data entry. The Logos acquisition changes that, Johnson said, and the integration with OmniComm’s technology creates a complete phase I EDC product.

“[Logos’ EDC] is very good for getting the data in, but it’s not a robust backend system for being able to process the data and manage the data and generate interim analyses and exports,” Johnson said. “It’s the perfect complement to what we have because we can then take that phase I tool for collecting the data and integrate it with our backend EDC solutions.”

According to Johnson, there is not a lot of competition in the space.

“It’s very difficult to do electronic data capture in phase I trials because their trials are so quick… You need to have technology that’s very, very quick and also cost affordable,” Johnson said. “Originally, we were really only well suited for a certain segment of phase I trials. Now we’re really good with all phase I trials.”

Leading up to the deal with OmniComm, Logos Technologies, Ltd., filed for bankruptcy while Logos’ parent company remained intact. OmniComm purchased the insolvent company from the administrator. Logos’ managing director and co-founder Simon Kemp also sold his half of Logos’ Technologies Holdings to OmniComm. Kemp and three employees are now a part of OmniComm, and the company is negotiating to bring over four additional EDC-related employees from the parent company.

To house the new employees and their services, OmniComm has opened a new office in the UK and created a UK subsidiary, OmniComm Ltd.