Closure of German office and consolidation of Help Desk services results in
approximately $1.1 million of annualized expense reduction and increases
Company competitiveness
CLEVELAND, June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DATATRAK International,
Inc. (Nasdaq: DATA), a technology and services company focused on global
eClinical solutions for the clinical trials industry, today announced as
part of its ongoing efforts to maximize operational efficiencies, the
Company will be closing its Bonn, Germany office. Throughout the past year
the German office of DATATRAK was mainly providing global Help Desk
services in support of the Company's two existing electronic platforms for
clinical trials. Help Desk services will now be provided through the
Company's headquarters based in Cleveland and will continue to service the
global implementations of DATATRAK's products. These initiatives when fully
implemented will result in annual costs savings of approximately $1.1
million.
DATATRAK's previous product offering of EDC-only was originally
acquired from the German Division of Electronic Data Systems in 1998. This
legacy product necessitated more intense supervision and support which
translated into a higher cost requirement. The newer DATATRAK eClinical
platform is far more user-friendly, modern and intuitive which results in a
diminished requirement for support, allowing for a consolidation of these
services within a lower cost environment. All of the new clinical trials
being implemented by DATATRAK exclusively use the new platform, while the
older EDC-only product suite is planned to have its few remaining trials
concluded by late 2009 or early 2010.
"Everyone who has ever been associated with the DATATRAK family
expresses the highest level of sincerity and respect for the German
operation that has provided exemplary service to our worldwide customers
and users for the past ten years," stated Dr. Jeffrey A. Green, President
and Chief Executive Officer of DATATRAK International, Inc. "This office of
DATATRAK was the early pioneer in this industry during the 1990s. However,
the advancing innovative nature of our platform is directed towards as much
self-reliance as possible for our customers and users and this fact
combined with the economic disadvantages of the currency exchange rates
necessitated this sound business decision. In the end, this action will
increase our corporate competitiveness which will translate into additional
advantages for our clients through the use of the DATATRAK eClinical
platform."
About DATATRAK International
DATATRAK International, Inc. is a worldwide technology company focused
on the provision of multi-component eClinical solutions and related
services for the clinical trials industry. The Company delivers a complete
portfolio of software products that were created in order to accelerate
clinical research data from investigative sites to clinical trial sponsors
and ultimately the FDA, faster and more efficiently than manual methods or
loosely integrated technologies. The DATATRAK eClinical(TM) software suite
can be deployed worldwide through an ASP offering or in a licensed
Enterprise Transfer ASP model that fully empowers clients to design, set up
and manage their clinical trials independently. The DATATRAK software suite
and its earlier versions have successfully supported hundreds of
international clinical trials involving thousands of clinical research
sites and encompassing tens of thousands of patients in 59 countries.
DATATRAK International, Inc.'s product suite has been utilized in some
aspect of the clinical development of 16 separate drugs and one medical
device that have received regulatory approval from either the United States
Food and Drug Administration or counterpart European bodies. DATATRAK
International, Inc. has offices located in Cleveland, Ohio and Bryan,
Texas. Its common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the
ticker symbol "DATA." Visit the DATATRAK International, Inc. web site at
http://www.datatrak.net.
Except for the historical information contained in this press release,
the statements made in this release are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are made based on management's expectations,
assumptions, estimates and current beliefs concerning the operations,
future results and prospects of the Company and are subject to
uncertainties and factors (including those specified below) which are
difficult to predict and, in many instances, are beyond the control of the
Company. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from
those in the forward-looking statements include the limited operating
history on which the Company's performance can be evaluated; the ability of
the Company to continue to enhance its software products to meet customer
and market needs; fluctuations in the Company's quarterly results; the
viability of the Company's business strategy and its early stage of
development; the timing of clinical trial sponsor decisions to conduct new
clinical trials or cancel or delay ongoing trials; the Company's dependence
on major customers; government regulation associated with clinical trials
and the approval of new drugs; the ability of the Company to compete in the
emerging EDC market; losses that potentially could be incurred from
breaches of contracts or loss of customer data; the inability to protect
intellectual property rights or the infringement upon other's intellectual
property rights; the Company's success in integrating its acquisition's
operations into its own operations and the costs associated with
maintaining and/or developing two product suites; and general economic
conditions such as the rate of employment, inflation, interest rates and
the condition of capital markets. This list of factors is not
all-inclusive. In addition, the Company's success depends on the outcome of
various strategic initiatives it has undertaken, all of which are based on
assumptions made by the Company concerning trends in the clinical research
market and the health care industry. The Company undertakes no obligation
to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statement whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE DATATRAK International, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.datatrak.net
CONTACT:
Jeffrey A. Green, Pharm.D., FCP, President
and Chief Executive Officer of DATATRAK International, Inc.,
+1-440-443-0082, ext. 112; Ray Merk, Chief Financial Officer of
DATATRAK International, Inc., +1-440-443-0082, ext. 181; or Neal
Feagans, Investor Relations of Feagans Consulting, Inc,
+1-303-449-1184
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