Medidata's Cloud Platform Picked By China's Hengrui, Stock Up

Medidata Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDSO) recently announced that Hengrui Pharma of China has adopted Medidata Cloud with a view to unify data management and improve patient outcome. To treat patients globally, Hengrui has added Medidata Rave EDC, RTSM, Coder, Safety Gateway and Edge CTMS.

Clearly, this fortifies Medidata’s foothold in the global healthcare mobility solutions space.

Following the announcement, shares of Medidata inched up 3.5% to $70.94 at close. Over the past year, the stock has rallied 2.1% against the industry's decline of 7.5%. The current level is however lower than the S&P 500 index’s 5.3% rise.

The stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Medidata in APAC

Management at Medidata foresees significant opportunities in the Asia-Pacific market, especially in China.In fact, Asia was a big contributor to growth in Medidata’s professional services unit in the last reported quarter.
It is encouraging to note that in the quarter, the company signed a deal with a sponsor from Korea. In fact, management has confirmed that the size of deals in the APAC region is gradually increasing.

Transparency Market Research estimates that the global healthcare mobility solutions market will reach $148.66 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 25.5%. Hence, the latest development has been a well-timed one for Medidata.

Cloud-Based Services in Focus

Medidata Cloud helps in connecting patients, physicians and healthcare professionals.

Medidata Rave is a cloud-based clinical data management system used to electronically capture, manage and report clinical research data.

Rave RTSM (Randomization and Trial Supply Management) offers flexible deployment models for single studies or enterprise level solutions. Rave EDC is the world’s leading solution for capturing, managing and reporting patient data. Meanwhile, Edge CTMS seamlessly integrates with the Rave EDC to provide real-time views on patients’ progress without manual tracking.

In the third quarter of 2018, Medidata had 24 patient Cloud deals, including 13 new ePRO customers who implemented RTSM along with Rave EDC.

In fact, in the last reported quarter, 13 different CRO (Contract Research Organization) partners implemented RTSM along with Rave EDC.

Key Picks

A few better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) , Surmodics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRDX) and Veeva Systems (NYSE:VEEV) .

Stryker has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 10% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Surmodics’ long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 10%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Veeva Systems’ long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 19.3%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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