Health Data Research UK Selects MMS as Data Services Partner for the International COVID-19 Data Alliance

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MMS Holdings Inc. (MMS) – an award-winning, data-focused CRO – announced today that it has been selected by Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) – the national institute for health data science – as a partner to support the International COVID-19 Data Alliance (ICODA) initiative. MMS was selected from a pool of some of the world’s top clinical research organizations to provide data engineering services to support a globally coordinated, health data-led research response to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

ICODA is an open and inclusive global collaboration of leading life science, philanthropic and research organizations that have come together to harness the power of health data to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Uniting data from a broad set of contributors will enable discoveries that will help treat and prevent COVID-19 and coordinate effective data responses to health challenges of the future.

“The International COVID-19 Data Alliance (ICODA), convened by Health Data Research UK is delighted to partner with MMS for data engineering services in support of our existing driver projects and upcoming Grand Challenges pilots,” said Neil Postlethwaite, Technical Director, ICODA. “We look forward to the MMS team supporting our data contributors with their expertise to accelerate contribution of data to the ICODA initiative. Their domain specific knowledge and experience will ensure our researchers have access to higher quality data sets and are able to focus on answering key research questions in the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The values that MMS were built on closely match those of HDR UK and ICODA, and we are proud to help them in making data accessible to health researchers and scientists around the world,” said Alan Nicolle, Senior Director, EU & SA Operations, MMS. “At MMS, we take a people-first approach to every project, program, and pipeline. It’s this focus that allows us to consistently reach or surpass these critical research goals.”

During the pilot phase of the project, MMS will provide flexible service levels based on the capability of each contributor to transform their data to ICODA standards. The MMS biometrics and data science team will provide simple guidance to the full range of data services and data mapping as needed.

After the pilot completes, MMS data scientists will use learnings to develop tools to further enable contributors such as open-source code and training that academic researchers can use to transform their own data. Additionally, later phases of the engagement may include data mapping and incorporation of real-world health data.

Learn more about ICODA here: https://www.hdruk.ac.uk/covid-19/international-covid-19-data-alliance/

ABOUT MMS

MMS Holdings (MMS) is an innovative, data-focused CRO that supports the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries with a proven, scientific approach to complex trial data and regulatory submission challenges. Strong industry experience, technology-enabled services, and a data-driven approach to drug development make MMS a valuable CRO partner, creating compelling submissions that meet rigorous regulatory standards. With a global footprint across four continents, MMS maintains a 97 percent customer satisfaction rating, and the company has been recognized as a leading CRO in Global Health & Pharma’s international awards programs for the last three consecutive years.

For more information, visit www.mmsholdings.com or follow MMS on LinkedIn.

ABOUT HDR UK

Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) is the national institute for health data science. Our mission is to unite the UK’s health data to enable discoveries that improve people’s lives.

Health Data Research UK is a registered charity (no. 1194431) funded by UK Research and Innovation, the Department of Health and Social Care in England and equivalents in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and leading medical research charities. HDR UK was set up in 2018 to support research on health data at scale to advance our understanding of disease and enable new discoveries that will ultimately improve health and care. We have established national research programmes that use data at scale, and we are building an infrastructure to enable the responsible access and analysis of this data. Our work is structured around three themes:

• Uniting health data – which includes the UK Health Data Research Alliance and the Health Data Research Innovation Gateway.
• Improving health data – which includes tools, methods, Health Data Research Hubs and the BHF Data Science Centre.
• Using health data – which includes research discoveries and skills development across four national priority areas: Understanding the Causes of Disease, Clinical Trials, Public Health and Better Care.

We are delivering this strategy through our inclusive, team-oriented One Institute ethos - bringing together NHS, universities, research institutes and charities - built on our values.