Contract research bigwig Parexel and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Datavant are deepening their trial tech partnership with a new, multiyear deal.
San Francisco-based Datavant’s tech allows the linking of traditional healthcare data sources like electronic medical records, claims and diagnostics with other emerging sources such as genomics, socioeconomic data, information from wearable devices and behavioral data.
Parexel will look to tap into this, and the deal, financial details of which are not being revealed, “enable the connection of real-world data across all clinical trials conducted by Parexel,” the pair said in a statement.
The collab will see Datavant’s tech integrated into Parexel’s standard data workflow for all studies, allowing sponsors to “optimize the evidence generation process by connecting real-world data to their clinical trial data, whether in the trial protocol or retroactively after a study is complete.”
Parexel will be able to team up with the hundreds of organizations that use Datavant software, including academic medical centers, life sciences and medical device companies and insurers as well as data aggregators and analytics companies, the firm said.
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“Across the industry, real-world evidence is becoming an essential component to evaluating the safety and effectiveness of drug therapies and ultimately to delivering therapeutic advances. However, one of the most significant barriers to generating real-world evidence is overcoming limitations of single data sources,” said Parexel CEO Jamie Macdonald.
“Partnering with Datavant has provided Parexel the ability to link disparate data sets to drive the complex analyses necessary for providing innovative scientific and clinical data strategies. We’re delighted to expand and extend our strategic partnership by using Datavant’s technology across our entire portfolio, making the ability to link data available to more customers on a broader scale.”
Parexel and Datavant are already connected through a 2018 pact set up to boost the design and operations of clinical studies and the generation of real-world evidence, but this new deal aims to take things a step further.
“Incorporating real-world data into the drug development process has been hindered by lack of access to necessary data,” added Travis May, co-founder and CEO of Datavant.
“After working with Parexel on our initial patient data applications, we’re excited to now expand our strategic partnership to ensure that all data generated through their clinical research process is seamlessly de-identified and made linkable with Datavant technology.
“Parexel's deep clinical expertise positions them well to navigate the planning necessary to include real-world data in the drug development process, and our join solution gives Parexel’s sponsors the flexibility to leverage the real-world data they need, whenever they need it, all while ensuring that patient privacy is protected.”