A Medical Device Daily

Covalent Group (Wayne, Pennsylvania), which manages clinical trials and patient disease registries for the medical device, biotech and pharmaceutical industries, reported signing a $2.1 million contract to conduct a patient disease registry in hospitalized subjects with hyponatremia, or low serum sodium levels, a common electrolyte disorder seen in the clinical setting.

Covalent will provide input into the design of the registry and project management as well as operational support that includes study site management, data management, biostatistical services and medical writing.

The company will work on the registry with its partner, Sudler & Hennessey (New York), which will provide communications, medical education and electronic media support. Revenue recognition, which will begin in this quarter, will be on a performance basis over the life of the contract.

The Hyponatremia Registry is designed to provide more thorough evidence-based patient safety and treatment data in hospitalized subjects with low serum sodium levels, creating nsights into the effectiveness of traditional as well as innovative therapeutic interventions, drug utilization patterns, quality-of-life measurements and healthcare resource utilization/cost analyses related to hyponatremi. In addition, the registry will provide communication and medical education opportunities for individuals interested in learning more about the diagnosis and treatment of hyponatremia.

In other grants/contracts news, CompuMed (Los Angeles), a medical informatics company that develops diagnostic software, has signed a one-year agreement with Correctional Medical Services (CMS; St. Louis) to provide correctional facilities with electrocardiogram remote interpretation systems and services.

CompuMed will become a CMS partner and will use its CardioGram system to provide remote cardiac screening for detainees at 68 correctional facilities that outsource healthcare services to CMS.

Over the past two years, the company has reported long-term contracts with correctional departments in several states including New York, California and Nevada.