UBC acquires Cognitive Drug Research

Sep 11 2009

United BioSource Corporation (UBC) today announced the acquisition of Cognitive Drug Research, Ltd. (CDR), the leader in computerized cognitive testing for clinical trials. The CDR System is the most widely used computerized cognitive testing system in the world: it is used in more than 1000 trials encompassing approximately 50 different disease areas, validated in over 60 languages, and cited in more than 700 publications and abstracts. Additionally, CDR maintains the industry’s largest healthy subject, patient, and drug databases of cognitive effects, providing the standard for establishing the clinical relevance of compounds.

Computerized cognitive testing facilitates standardized administration, measurement precision, and the reliability of cognitive endpoints. Importantly, it enables the assessment of major aspects of cognitive function that are otherwise overlooked by traditional methods. The CDR System has demonstrated unparalleled sensitivity to cognitive enhancements as well as to impairments in a broad range of disorders. Increased sensitivity translates into significant cost savings as fewer study subjects are required to reach statistical significance.

“Our experience with both computerized cognitive testing and the measurement of clinician- and patient-reported outcomes has reinforced the need for a fully integrated solution to reliably assess cognitive function,” said Catherine Spear, Sr. Vice President at UBC. “CDR offers a solution no one else in the industry can provide; more than 20 years of clinical trial experience together with the largest, most comprehensive cognitive effects database encompassing tens of thousands of patients.”

“The premier evidence base, reliability, and global reach of the CDR System coupled with UBC’s validated rater training, assessment, and rater surveillance methods will provide an unprecedented opportunity for improved signal detection in the measurement of cognition and clinically subjective endpoints,” said Ethan Leder, CEO of UBC. “The addition of Professor Keith Wesnes, to the UBC scientific team and our integrated offerings will provide sponsor companies with the broadest, most seamless capabilities available.”

“We are excited to join the UBC family and take cognitive testing to the next level,” said Professor Keith Wesnes, Chief Executive and founder of CDR. “Combining the CDR System with UBC’s industry-leading solutions for standardizing the administration and scoring of clinically subjective outcomes measures offers pharmaceutical and medical device companies the unique ability to cost-effectively integrate computerized cognitive testing, rater training, and data quality monitoring to generate accurate, clinically relevant data in even the very largest, most complex development programs,” stated Professor Wesnes.