World Economic Forum Selects Phase Forward as Technology Pioneer 2009

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Phase Forward (NASDAQ: PFWD), a leading provider of data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, today announced that it has been selected as a Technology Pioneer 2009 by the World Economic Forum. More than 320 companies from around the world submitted applications, which were evaluated by 44 global technology experts. Phase Forward was selected as one of 34 companies that were honored by the Forum.

The World Economic Forum characterizes Technology Pioneers as innovators of the highest caliber, whose technologies will have a deep impact on business and society. By virtue of the honor, Phase Forward Chairman, President and CEO Robert Weiler has been invited to participate in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, to be held January 28 to February 1.

“It is a great honor for Phase Forward to be recognized by an organization whose mission is nothing less than improving the state of the world,” said Weiler. “On behalf of the Phase Forward team, we enter 2009 with a renewed sense of purpose to work with our customers to get life-changing therapies to market more quickly and safely.”

“We congratulate the 34 newly selected Technology Pioneers for their remarkable achievements and welcome them to the wider community of the World Economic Forum. During these difficult times, we are certain that the technologies driven by these visionary companies will contribute to the next wave of growth, with the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that characterizes them,” said André Schneider, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the World Economic Forum.

“We’re proud to have an innovative company like Phase Forward representing our state at this prestigious international forum,” said Dan O’Connell, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development. “Phase Forward’s unique innovation – developing software to automate the clinical trial process – successfully translated a concept into a vibrant, publicly held company. Companies like Phase Forward underscore Massachusetts’ position as a global leader in life sciences and technology.”

This recognition represents the culmination of a remarkable year for Phase Forward. The company ranked 38th on the Fortune “Small Business 100” list of America’s fastest growing small public companies, and ranked 16th in the Boston Globe “Globe 100” of top-performing public companies in Massachusetts. The company’s InForm™ Integrated Trial Management product was named by the Software & Information Industry Association as the winner of the 2008 CODiE Award for Best Medical and Health Information Product. Phase Forward customer GSK won a prestigious Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award for a software system that helps to predict safety issues in early-stage pharmaceutical research. The system was co-developed by GSK and Phase Forward’s Lincoln Safety Group. And another Phase Forward customer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, won CIO Magazine’s 2008 CIO 100 award for its implementation of Phase Forward’s flagship InForm product.

About the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers Program

This is the 10th anniversary of the Technology Pioneers program of the Forum, which aims to recognize companies at the forefront of technology and innovation. The program, started in 2000, so far has identified around 400 companies that have contributed to the Forum’s mission of improving the state of the world. To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership and show all the signs of being a long-standing market leader – and its technology must be proven. Previous Technology Pioneers include 23andme, Amyris Biotechnologies, Dr. Reddy Laboratories, Google, Gridpoint, Infosys, Kaspersky Lab, Mozilla Corporation and Nanosolar.

About Phase Forward

Phase Forward is a leading provider of integrated data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety. The company offers proven solutions for electronic data capture (InForm™), phase I clinic automation (LabPas™), clinical data management (Clintrial™), clinical trials signal detection (CTSD™), strategic pharmacovigilance (Empirica Signal™) and Signal Management, adverse event reporting (Empirica Trace™), applied data standards (WebSDM™) and Web-integrated interactive response technologies (Clarix™). In addition, the company provides services in the areas of application implementation, hosting and validation, data integration, business process optimization, safety data management and industry standards. Phase Forward’s products and services have been utilized in over 10,000 clinical trials involving more than 1,000,000 clinical trial study participants at over 280 organizations and regulatory agencies worldwide including: AstraZeneca, Boston Scientific, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Eli Lilly, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, GlaxoSmithKline, Harvard Clinical Research Institute, Merck Serono, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, PAREXEL International, Procter & Gamble, Quintiles, sanofi-aventis, Schering-Plough Research Institute, Servier, Tibotec and the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. Additional information about Phase Forward is available at www.phaseforward.com.

Cautionary Statement

Certain statements made in this press release that are not based on historical information are forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, the performance of Phase Forward’s products and services, continued market acceptance of Phase Forward’s products and services, and the ability of Phase Forward’s customers to realize benefits from the use of Phase Forward’s products and services. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Phase Forward's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. In particular, the risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the ability of Phase Forward’s customers to realize benefits from the use of its products and services, the possibility that customers’ needs or plans may change over time, and the introduction or improvement of products and services competitive with those of Phase Forward. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Phase Forward undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise. For additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by Phase Forward, see the disclosure contained in Phase Forward's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without limitation, its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated by its most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.