Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN), a global health care technology company, today announced an investment in Elligo Health Research, a leading integrated research organization that enables clinical trials with nationwide community-based health care practices. Cerner representatives will also join Elligo’s board of directors. As a result of this investment, Cerner plans to enter into a commercial agreement to expand the data and tools available in the Cerner Learning Health Network to offer additional clinical trial resources to community and rural hospitals and physician practices. This collaboration is expected to help accelerate clinical research timeframes, make clinical trials more broadly and easily accessible and reduce the costs associated with bringing a therapy to market.

“At the beginning of the year, we launched a bold push with our provider clients to change the pace and cost of clinical trials. Today, 51 health systems are part of our Learning Health Network,” said Donald Trigg, president, Cerner. “Elligo shares our passion for making clinical trial opportunities accessible to every provider and patient. Our collaboration will accelerate that shared mission in the quarters ahead.”

Health systems face significant obstacles such as patient recruitment, costs and access to clinical trial resources. Today, for example, the drug development process takes more than 17 years and costs approximately $2.5B. Cerner and Elligo will focus on helping reduce those obstacles health systems face to make clinical trials become more of a reality – no matter the size, location or academic standing.

Additionally, most clinical trials are executed in large, urban areas with homogenous trial populations, which offer insights that may not be broadly applicable to all patients in need of the therapies. Clinical trial resources can offer funded research opportunities for health care organizations as well as access to trial therapies for patients who need it most, including those in minority populations and rural communities. This could result in outcomes that are more representative of diverse populations and a potential increase in drug safety through post-market surveillance capabilities.

As one of the largest health networks for clinical research, Elligo works to bring research as a care option to as many participants as possible by offering innovative, patient-centric solutions within the practices of trusted physicians.

“Elligo’s mission is to bring clinical research to everyone, but today’s clinical research processes are obsolete and expensive,” said John Potthoff, Ph.D., CEO, Elligo. “Our collaboration with Cerner will be designed to help transform the research process by optimizing operations, focusing on the patient and producing the regulatory-grade data needed to inform decision-making.”

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Perella Weinberg Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to Elligo and Goodwin Procter LLP served as legal counsel to Elligo in connection with the investment. Stinson served as legal counsel for Cerner.

About Cerner
Cerner’s health technologies connect people and information systems at thousands of contracted provider facilities worldwide dedicated to creating smarter and better care for individuals and communities. Recognized globally for innovation, Cerner assists clinicians in making care decisions and assists organizations in managing the health of their populations. The company also offers an integrated clinical and financial system to help manage day-to-day revenue functions, as well as a wide range of services to support clinical, financial and operational needs, focused on people. For more information, visit Cerner.com, The Cerner Blog or connect on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or The Cerner Podcast. Nasdaq: CERN. Health care is too important to stay the same.

About Elligo Health Research
Elligo Health Research, a healthcare-enabling research organization, uses electronic health records and the trusted patient and physician relationship to ensure all patients have access to clinical research as a care option. Powered by our Goes Direct® approach and novel IntElligo® Research Stack clinical technology, our team provides access to the best healthcare experts, patients, and research technologies. We engage physicians and patients who otherwise would not participate in clinical research and accelerate the development of new pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device and diagnostic products. Learn more at elligodirect.com.