Real-world data software developer Aetion closed on a $27 million extension of series B financing, bringing the total raised in the round to expand its platform to $63 million.
Investors in the attest funding included Sanofi, Horizon Health Services (part of Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey), UCB and McKesson Ventures, the company said.
Aetion’s evidence platform is used by eight of the top 15 global biopharma firms, leading payers and the FDA, which recently announced a new framework to use real-world data for regulatory approvals.
The company said the money will be used to support and enhance its platform specifically for “extending its reach in therapeutic area-related intelligence, outcomes-based contracting for payers and advancing the acceptance of standards for real-world evidence around the globe.”
"The time for real-world evidence is now," Carolyn Magill, Aetion’s chief executive, said in a statement. “We're entering a new era in which nearly the entire healthcare ecosystem—from biopharma and regulators to payers and technology companies—recognizes the importance of using real-world evidence to reduce the time and cost to bring new therapies to market."
The passage of the 21st Century Cures Act spurred growing interest in the use of real-world data for drug development and regulatory processes. Aetion uses rapid-cycle analytics technology to generate evidence from all kinds of data in any format, including claims, electronic medical records, patient-reported outcomes and registry data, as well as randomized clinical trial data.