Waltham, Mass.-based eClinical company Phase Forward reported first quarter revenues jumped 28% to $48.8 million, compared with the first quarter of 2008.

In early morning trading, Phase Forward shares were up 31% to $15.70 a share.

Bob Weiler, chairman and CEO, Phase Forward, stated, "The first quarter was a strong start to the new year, with our top line and profitability results both coming in well above our guidance. During the first quarter, demand was broad-based across our suite of solutions and target markets."

For the first quarter of 2009, GAAP income from operations was $5.2 million, compared to $4.4 million in the first quarter of 2008. GAAP net income for the period was $4.1 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, consistent with the first quarter of 2008.

"During the first quarter, we signed our first significant agreements that can be utilized for both EDC and our Clarix IRT offerings. We also recently expanded our overall value proposition with the acquisition of Waban Software," Weiler added.

Meanwhile, Phase Forward signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar enterprise license and services agreement with Novo Nordisk, expanding the existing relationship between the two companies. Novo Nordisk plans to use Phase Forward's InForm electronic data capture (EDC) product as the default data capture system across all clinical trial phases.