...Vendor failures in the 1990s left many drug- and devicemakers with a sour taste regarding EDC, consultant William Johnson acknowledged at a recent Institute for International Research conference. Nonetheless, acceptance of EDC is rising slowly, Johnson and other experts noted. Providers of EDC technology have promised faster application review times and more efficient overall operations.

That’s the same thing that happened to biometrics and its application to EDC, said Daon CEO Oliver Tattan. Many vendors either over-promised or didn’t understand the technology. In some cases, vendors were offering “biometric” security solutions that provided no real security, Tattan said...