Phase Forward

Clinical Trial Management Software (eClinical / EDC)phaseforward.com

Phase Forward provided integrated electronic data capture and data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, serving pharmaceutical sponsors and contract research organizations before being acquired by Oracle in 2011.

Company typePrivate
Founded1997
HeadquartersWaltham, United States
Headcount501–1,000
GTM typeB2B
OfferingSoftware

What Phase Forward does

Phase Forward was a Waltham, Massachusetts-based provider of integrated data collection and data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, serving pharmaceutical sponsors and contract research organizations. Founded in 1997, the company built electronic data capture (EDC) and related drug safety reporting technology supporting regulated clinical development workflows. Between 2001 and 2009 Phase Forward executed six acquisitions — Clinsoft, Provenda Biometrics, Lincoln Technologies, Waban Software, the Covance Web Response Services (IVRS/IWRS) business, and Maaguzi — to broaden its clinical trial software platform into adjacent product lines such as patient randomization, trial supply management, and clinical analytics.

The company operated as a NASDAQ-listed public entity under ticker PFWD with 501-1,000 employees, and had previously raised $25 million in venture financing in August 2000 from a syndicate led by Thomas Weisel Partners alongside Atlas Venture, New Enterprise Associates, Housatonic Partners, HLM Venture Partners, Pacific Venture Group, SV Health Investors, Sprout Group, and Bioventures Investors. In 2011, Oracle Corporation acquired Phase Forward and integrated its solutions into Oracle's Health Sciences global business unit, where they continue to operate as part of Oracle's broader life sciences software portfolio. The Oracle acquisitions page does not disclose pre-acquisition revenue, pricing model details, or product-level technical architecture.

Phase Forward firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Phase Forward
Legal name: Phase Forward
Website: https://phaseforward.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 1997
Operating status: Acquired
Headcount range: 501–1,000 employees
Short description: Phase Forward provided integrated electronic data capture and data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, serving pharmaceutical sponsors and contract research organizations before being acquired by Oracle in 2011.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Phase Forward industry classification

Industry

Product category: Clinical Trial Management Software (eClinical / EDC)
NAICS: Software Publishers (513210), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)
SIC: Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
akta.pro primary industry: Electronic Data Capture (EDC) Platforms (HLACAOAA)
akta.pro secondary industries: Randomization & Trial Supply Management (RTSM/IRT/IVRS/IWRS) (HLACAOAC), Safety/Pharmacovigilance (PV) & Clinical Safety Systems (HLACAOAH), Site Data Management Support (EDC/Source/SDV Readiness) (HLAGACAL)

Keywords

Clinical trial software
Electronic data capture
Drug safety solutions
Clinical data management
EClinical solutions

Where Phase Forward is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Waltham
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Markets served

Phase Forward business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Software
Cost components: Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Phase Forward product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Phase Forward provided integrated electronic data capture (EDC) and data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety. Its software enabled pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and contract research organizations to collect, manage, and report clinical research data across the drug development lifecycle. Following its 2011 acquisition, the offering was integrated into Oracle's Health Sciences global business unit.

Product overview

Phase Forward was a company acquired by Oracle. The source content is an Oracle corporate acquisitions landing page for Phase Forward that does not contain substantive product, service, or technology details. No specific products, modules, or product portfolio information is available in the provided source.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Integrated Clinical Data Collection and Data Management Solutions Integrated software suite for electronic data capture (EDC) and clinical trial data management, enabling pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device sponsors to collect, clean, and manage clinical research data and drug safety information.

Companies that use Phase Forward

Customer profile

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Phase Forward technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Phase Forward partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Phase Forward competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Clario (formerly BioClinica / ERT): Clinical trial technology and endpoint solutions provider whose EDC/EDM and RTSM offerings overlap Phase Forward's EDC and IVRS/IWRS products with similar biopharma and CRO customers.
ArisGlobal: ArisGlobal's LifeSphere clinical and safety platform overlaps Phase Forward's EDC plus drug safety portfolio, serving the same biopharma/RPS customer base.
Veeva Systems: Veeva Vault Clinical (including Vault EDC) competes directly with Phase Forward's EDC and randomization products in life sciences, while Veeva's broader CRM/Quality suite mirrors the integrated strategy Phase Forward pursued.
DATATRAK International: Specialist EDC vendor comparable to Phase Forward's core offering, selling electronic data capture and randomization solutions into biopharma and CROs.
Medidata Solutions: Direct EDC and clinical trial technology competitor offering the Rave EDC platform alongside randomization, CTMS, and analytics — the canonical head-to-head rival to Phase Forward in regulated EDC.

Emerging players

Medrio: Cloud-native EDC and eClinical platform aimed at emerging biopharma and academic sponsors — a partial-overlap emerging competitor in the same Phase Forward EDC category.
OpenClinica: Open-source EDC and clinical trial data management platform serving many of the same sponsor and academic research customers with a lower-cost, more configurable alternative.

Broad incumbents

Parexel International: Large CRO whose technology stack and Perceptive/MyTrials platform intersect with Phase Forward's EDC and RTSM offerings from a sponsor-CRO delivery model rather than pure software vendor.
Oracle Health Sciences: Now the parent of Phase Forward; Oracle Clinical and broader Health Sciences suite overlap directly with Phase Forward EDC/drug safety products inside an enterprise software giant.
SAS Institute (Life Sciences): Statistical computing and analytics platform used across clinical development; overlaps with the biostatistics, statistical computing, and clinical programming category relevant to Phase Forward's data management footprint.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Phase Forward financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Phase Forward leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Phase Forward funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors10 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Phase Forward M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A7 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Phase Forward

What does Phase Forward do?

Is Phase Forward a public or private company?

Phase Forward is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.

When was Phase Forward founded?

Phase Forward was founded in 1997. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.

Where is Phase Forward based?

Phase Forward is headquartered in Waltham, United States, in the North America region.

Who are Phase Forward's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Clario (formerly BioClinica / ERT), ArisGlobal, Veeva Systems, DATATRAK International and Medidata Solutions. Emerging players are Medrio and OpenClinica. Broad incumbents are Parexel International, Oracle Health Sciences and SAS Institute (Life Sciences).

Does Phase Forward have an API?

No public API is recorded for Phase Forward.

What industry is Phase Forward in?

Phase Forward's product category is Clinical Trial Management Software (eClinical / EDC). Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLACAOAA, Electronic Data Capture (EDC) Platforms, with a secondary code of HLACAOAC, Randomization & Trial Supply Management (RTSM/IRT/IVRS/IWRS). Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.