SAN FRANCISCO, May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Velos, Inc. this week hosted a constellation of prestigious academic medical centers, research institutions, investigative leaders and industry partners at its annual meeting in San Francisco. Velos customers from throughout the world gathered to discuss a variety of initiatives and to hear speakers from UCLA, SUNY Stony Brook, Kansas University, University of Michigan, Columbia University, and the University of Texas Southwestern and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Presenters shared their achievements using the Velos flagship product, Velos eResearch to bring quality and efficiency to their clinical research programs. They addressed other topics such as strategies to facilitate better data standards for medical research.

"We're delighted to have such a high quality group of professionals participate in this year's gathering," said John S. McIlwain, President and CEO of Velos. "We are all celebrating a year of accomplishments. We believe our exceptional, and growing, customer base has the capability to help move the entire clinical research industry forward. Customers recognize the many challenges ahead - especially in the area of standards - but they continue to express the fact that they are using the very best system available. It's gratifying to think that Velos can contribute with its ever-advancing systems for medical research."

This year's meeting was highlighted by customer enthusiasm and eagerness to collaborate in adopting state-of-the-art clinical research system infrastructure. The Velos eResearch system allows customers to internally and collaboratively manage thousands of clinical trials. Such themes as collaboration, multi-site research network management, service-oriented architecture, Web Services, outcomes measurement, patient self-reporting, and financial management were discussed throughout the two-day session. Attendees were gratified to learn of many encouraging developments at Velos. These include:

• Version 8.8 of Velos eResearch is released. Delivered closely on the heels of Velos eResearch 8.7, Velos eResearch 8.8 sets a new standard for the rigor and quality of the Velos development process. Great care has been taken to address customer needs and preferences in Electronic Data Capture. This effort has paid off with outstanding improvements and efficiencies. Velos 8.8 delivers a faster, more robust functionality, deploys an unparalleled capability for bio specimen management, and it has a fuller set of features and benefits in Financial Management. Other highlights include: Connection Proofing; Forms and Dashboards; Closer Integration Between Calendars, Budgets and Milestones; Advanced Specimen Management; Enhanced Budget Display; Increased Efficiency in Milestone Creation; and Patient and Form Modifications.
• Velos eResearch eXpress is bringing new economies and benefits to support individual studies and departments within research institutions. Smaller research sites and biotechnology companies throughout the U.S. and internationally can access Velos eResearch eXpress when needed, without up front capital expenditure. Representative customers include: clinical trials offices that might not have budgets for larger enterprise rollouts; individual investigators; biotechnology companies; SMOs; and smaller CROs. Velos eResearch eXpress is harnessing a delivery system by which dynamically scalable and often virtualized system resources are provided as Software as a Service (SaaS).
• Adding to auspicious trends in the Velos roadmap for success are research programs within the international arena. These include Cancer Trials Australia (CTA), the leading Australian Site Management Organization (SMO) focused on cancer research. CTA will use Velos eResearch to collaborate across their 13-hospital research network, which includes world renowned academic medical centers and research institutions such as Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter McCallum Cancer Center. Additionally South Korea deployed Velos eResearch in 2007 in an unprecedented countrywide initiative to allow seamless clinical trial collaboration and information sharing among all South Korean cancer centers.

Velos eResearch customers receive over 50 percent of the NIH extramural medical research funding to the 100 largest such recipients -- the largest such share among clinical trial management system software vendors. The Velos eResearch customer base includes 21 top 25 U.S. medical centers and two thirds of the "Honor Roll" in the U.S. News & World Report 2008 Best Hospitals Survey.

About Velos

Velos is the trusted clinical trial management resource for investigators, sponsors and academic leaders throughout the U.S. Velos eResearch is deployed for clinical research in all parts of the healthcare enterprise and supports a broad diversity of clinical departments and functional needs. The system fundamentally improves the way data is collected, organized and shared. A pure Internet technology platform, Velos eResearch harnesses advanced powers of the Internet to enable research sites, sponsors, and patients to participate in a secure, integrated system platform. System users are freed of redundant data entry and related time delays associated with most clinical research today. With emphasis on workflow, Velos integrates the clinical, administrative and financial information needs of research management. Velos eTools, a companion product to Velos eResearch, empowers customers by giving them ownership and access to functions such as system configuration, data migrations, custom reporting and third party data submissions. Founded in 1996, Velos is privately held with headquarters in Fremont, California. For more information, visit www.velos.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Velos, Inc.