Medidata Solutions Expands ASPire to Win Partner Program



    Medidata Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of clinical trial
    solutions, today announced the expansion of its ASPire to Win(R)
    partner program for contract research organizations (CRO)

    consultancies and other service providers. Driven by the growing
    opportunity for CROs and other service providers to meet sponsor
    demand for the Medidata Rave(R) electronic data capture (EDC)

    management and reporting solution, Medidata has broadened its ASPire
    to Win program to offer various levels of training and support for a
    wide range of partner activity.

    Life science organizations are increasingly turning to CROs and
    other service providers to manage all or parts of their clinical
    research process. Worldwide, there are more than 1,000 CROs serving
    the needs of small, medium and large life science companies. Fueling
    this growth in outsourcing is the increasing complexity and growing
    size of studies, as well as the trend to conduct clinical research
    globally. As a growing number of sponsors rely on EDC systems to
    contain research costs and streamline trial timelines while ensuring
    quality decision-making, these companies look to CROs to help
    implement and manage EDC trials. To meet customer needs, CROs are
    building EDC-related services into their portfolios, including EDC
    site administration, study build and reporting. With the expansion of
    ASPire to Win, Medidata offers a flexible program to equip CROs and
    service providers with various Rave skills to help them optimize their
    services revenue around this industry-leading technology.

    "We value the contributions that CROs and other service
    organizations are making to the EDC growth trend and understand that
    each organization has a unique set of goals and requirements for EDC,"
    said Graham Bunn, vice president of global CRO partnerships at
    Medidata. "As a result, we´ve moved away from a ´one size fits all´
    approach and expanded our program to enable our global network of
    business partners to choose the plan that will best meet the needs of
    their customers and complement their unique capabilities as well as
    grow their business with Medidata Rave."

    Medidata´s ASPire to Win Program is a non-exclusive enablement and
    accreditation program that supports selected CROs and other
    organizations, positioning them to create new services revenue around
    the implementation of Medidata Rave. ASPire to Win now offers four
    unique partner levels:

    -- Rave Aware: Partners are qualified to market Medidata Rave

    having completed Medidata Rave business development and end

    user training that familiarizes them with the Medidata Rave

    platform and Medidata services. This level is appropriate for

    a broad range of organizations, including CROs, consultants

    and other service providers that may evaluate or recommend EDC

    systems to clients.

    -- Rave Ready: Partners complete training to provide basic EDC

    services, including end user training, site and user

    administration, reporting and closeout activities for Medidata

    Rave implementations.

    -- Rave Accredited: Partners are trained to build and configure

    their customers´ Medidata Rave studies. This level is ideal

    for organizations that want to provide study build services

    for Medidata Rave - in addition to end user training

    administration and reporting services - and prepares CROs for

    full knowledge transfer in Rave Accredited Plus.

    -- Rave Accredited Plus: Partners can provide the full suite of

    Medidata Rave-related services, including end user training

    study build, reporting, outputs, integrations and migrations.

    This level is designed for organizations that want to be a

    one-stop shop for Medidata Rave implementation services.

    Medidata first announced the ASPire to Win program in April 2005
    in order to help CROs meet growing sponsor demand for Medidata Rave.
    Since then, ASPire to Win has grown to include 11 partners, ranging
    from smaller clinical consultancies to large, global CROs.

    "We´ve partnered with Medidata in response to the growing number
    of sponsors that request Medidata Rave implementations and related
    services," said James Esinhart, executive vice president of Biometrics
    and Late Phase at Chiltern, a UK-based CRO. "Medidata has proven to be
    a key strategic partner as we grow our global business. They
    understand our specific needs and unique capabilities, and partner
    with us in a way that enables us to best use Rave to provide customers
    with truly innovative EDC solutions."

    About Medidata Solutions Worldwide

    Medidata Solutions (www.mdsol.com) is a leading provider of
    clinical trial solutions that enable the world´s most advanced life
    science organizations to maximize the value of their clinical research
    investments by putting powerful tools into researchers´ hands. A
    pioneer since 1999 in innovative technologies for planning and
    managing clinical studies - including protocol design; clinical data
    capture, management and reporting; and trial contracting and
    negotiation - Medidata Solutions and its global network of business
    partners address the unique needs of sponsors and sites of all sizes.
    With deep expertise in conducting studies across all phases and
    therapeutic areas, on six continents and in more than 80 countries

    Medidata Solutions helps clinical researchers reduce trial cycle
    times, achieve early visibility to reliable clinical data, and
    maintain strict fiscal responsibility, while safely accelerating the
    process of bringing life-enhancing treatments to market.