Zikria Syed left Microsoft's Philadelphia office (it's actually in Malvern) eight years ago to set up his own business. Syed's current company, NextDocs, writes drug clinical-testing software. It employs 85, with offices in seven states and six countries (Japan is next). Most (50) are based at NextDoc's Malvern headquarters, close to Microsoft's 160-person Life Sciences Industry headquarters.
Syed may have left Microsoft, but it's no hard feelings: Microsoft and NextDocs share clients in and beyond the US 202 drugmakers' corridor - Sanofi Aventis, and Merck, among others, says Michael Naimoli, managing director of Microsoft Life Sciences.
"It's in the DNA of Microsoft to work through a partner ecosystem," Naimoli told me. "We have, traditionally, not necessarily produced software that is specific for the life sciences industry. Our primary focus, with respect to life science and healthcare, is to work with our partners," vendors like NextDocs.
The physical proof of the partnership is the new 20,000 square foot "Life Sciences Solutions Scalability Lab" that Microsoft opened with NextDocs after gutting a former Vanguard Group office downstairs from Microsoft's Malvern office. Microsoft cofounder Steve Ballmer visited when work finished in March, and so did PA Gov.Tom Corbett, even though the state isn't financing the project, according to Bob Kuhns, director of the Microsoft center.
The lab, staffed by nine newly hired "technical architects," includes rooms for visiting clients to test clinical-testing software (and hardware from HP, Dell and other vendors) before it's rolled out for thousands of staff at individual companies. In a case study report approved by Sanofi, the European drugmaker says its Microsoft-NextDocs clinical trial software has saved "10,000 working days" compared to its previous management systems.
Syed (Drexel grad, master's of computer science, 1989) says he's been self-funding NextDocs with proceeds from the 2006 sale of his previous company, Broadpeak LLC (now part of Parexel) plus profits. Five-year-old NextDocs has been profitable since 2007, he says, and will top $10 million in sales this year, after two straight years of 60% sales growth. No plans to sell: There's a very large market, and we think we can grow the company to a much larger scale over the next few years" by staying independent.
- Recent commercial property sales (beta)
- Bloomberg News
- New York Times Dealbook
- Reuters Finance
- Edgar: SEC Filings
- Emma: Bond Filings
- ACG Philadelphia: Deals and Dealmakers
- Seeking Alpha CEO call transcripts
- Grubb: Philadelphia Skyline Report
- Studley: Business Real Estate
- Philadelphia city properties for sale
- Plan Philly
- Technically Philly
- Philly Tech News
- Llenrock real estate blog
- Pennsylvania state budget
- New Jersey state budget
- Philadelphia city budgets
- Delaware 2010 budget
- U.S. budget
- Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System
- Timothy Holwick’s Philadelphia City Council blog
- Casey Thomas’ Philadelphia lobbyists
- May
- April
- March
- February
- January
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- News | Sports | Business | What's Happening | Restaurants & Food | Entertainment | Living | Marketplace | Jobs
