SAS Software Powers Life-saving New Process

Thanks to e-Intelligence software from SAS Institute and an innovative application from Synteract, the next person you see tapping a Palm VII handheld device could be saving someone's life. SAS, a market leader in Webenabled data warehousing and decision support, provides on-the-spot access to vital information. This helps researchers make critical decisions during clinical trials. In the process, some patients with acute liver failure are receiving quick access to an experimental treatment.

SAS and Synteract, a contract research organization headquartered near San Diego, are helping Vitagen, a La Jolla, Calif.-based biotechnology company, move its product through clinical trials. Synteract uses SAS to manage data for Vitagen's artificial liver device, the Extracorporeal Liver Assist Device (ELAD) system. It contains live human liver cells and can perform a patient's liver functions for up to 10 days. This extra time may keep a patient alive long enough for a donor organ to become available, or give a diseased liver time to heal. Every year, 14,000 people in the United States need a liver transplant, but only 4,000 organs are available. This year, an estimated 1,400 patients will die waiting for a liver.

Vitagen is involved in a clinical trial to prove the safety and efficacy of the ELAD system. Since the device is considered experimental therapy, certain patients in the trial receive the ELAD system and others get a traditional treatment regimen. "We need to know on a minute-to-minute basis if the patient fits in the treatment arm or the control arm of the trial," said Patrick Maguire, M.D., Vitagen's vice president of medical affairs. "That lets people at our manufacturing site know what they need to ship to the hospital."

This is where Synteract comes into the process. It houses Vitagen's clinical trials data on a secure Web site, which Vitagen employees can access through a traditional Internet connection. However, by using a Palm VII application that surfaces SAS analysis of the trials, Vitagen also can access this data at any time via a wireless connection and run a program that randomly assigns patients in the clinical trial. Because the Palm VII is connected to the Internet, users can interact with the information. Previously, data stored on wireless hand-held devices was static.

"Before we developed the Web and Palm applications, someone at Vitagen had to contact us by phone, fax or e-mail," said Russell Holmes, chairman and vice president at Synteract. "Then we had to respond to the request. We were looking for a way to cut down this time. We're talking about very sick people here. Every second counts."

With its support for wireless applications, SAS was a natural choice. Using SAS software, developers at Synteract delivered an application in two days. "The power of SAS is its ability to deliver information that allows people to make decisions," said Jim Davis, director of product strategy for SAS. "Wireless applications are simply another avenue for SAS to deliver information anywhere, any time."

Maguire said he is glad that he doesn't have to keep his laptop computer close by anymore. He can do his job anywhere as along as he has his Palm. "The patients we work with are critically ill," he said. "It is absolutely mandatory that we get the right information to the right people at the right time."

About SAS Institute

SAS Institute, the world's largest privately held software company, is the leader in decision support and data warehousing, providing integrated enterprise information-delivery solutions and e-business solutions. SAS markets packaged business solutions for vertical industry and departmental applications, as well as an integrated suite of software tools and consulting services. These allow companies to transform the wide variety of data within their organizations into information that business users and researchers need to make better decisions. SAS software and services are used at more than 33,000 business, government and university sites in 110 countries. SAS' 1999 revenues totaled $1.02 billion. Please visit SAS' Web site: www.sas.com

Contact SAS Institute Inc, Chris Glass or Pamela Meek, 919-677-8000 x4603 chris.glass@sas.com.