HealthCarePoint (HCP), a Texas-based healthcare and clinical research networking-technology company, and the Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety (ACRES), a Cambridge-based nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing quality, safety, integrity and operational effectiveness in drug development and health research, have announced a second step in their previously announced strategic alliance.

HCP president and founder, Al O. Pacino, will join ACRES as vice president for collaborative network development while retaining his leadership role at HCP. The move strengthens the relationship between the organizations as they pursue a common goal—to develop and implement innovative systems-based solutions benefiting the entire clinical research enterprise worldwide.

In his new position, Pacino will strengthen formal collaborations among ACRES’ many strategic allies, who are working to build a shared information infrastructure in support of ACRES global network.

 “Contributing HCP’s time and resources to ACRES benefits the industry as a whole by using technology and the tools of professionalism to dramatically improve efficiencies and quality,” said Pacino. “By getting out of our silos and setting aside our differences, all stakeholders can work together in a non-competitive space to build a collaborative system that serves everyone—investigators, sites, CROs, sponsors, regulatory agencies and the healthcare industry and, most importantly, the public.”

HealthCarePoint previously pledged $10 million in software and technology infrastructure to ACRES, including 10,000 licenses of its proprietary Personal Experience and Training Accounts for Business and Compliance (PET-ABC) Management Systems, with an option for ACRES to receive additional licenses and technology services as the global network grows. The PET-ABC technology provides a platform-independent repository for archiving and sharing professional healthcare and clinical research provider information maintained at the local level, accessible by organizations for more effective site qualification and study startup.

Developing standards for site accreditation and interoperability is one of ACRES’ global initiatives. Based on independent industry analyses, by reducing waste and redundancies through a global systems approach that will improve safety, quality and efficiency, ACRES and HCP project potential savings industry wide of more than $5 billion annually within 10 years. Additionally, this system should significantly shorten the time required for a new product to be properly tested and approved for marketing, potential benefits that have attracted investor attention in the biopharmaceutical sector.

Briggs W. Morrison, M.D., AstraZeneca vice president for global medicines development and chief medical officer, also a member of ACRES’ board of directors, said, “For too long, the industry has failed to recognize the importance and value of well-established, sustainable, high-performing research sites. Now is the time to take a more systemic approach that promotes site productivity, quality and sustainability, and ACRES, with the support of HCP and its allies, is leading the way.”