Bristol-Myers signs deal to use Veeva tools for regulatory information

Veeva CEO Peter Gassner

Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) has struck a deal with Veeva Systems ($VEEV) to access tools for the management of its regulatory information. The agreement will see Bristol-Myers use two of Veeva's cloud-based applications to organize its product registration data and keep track of its archive of regulatory submissions.

Veeva introduced the two apps late last year and Bristol-Myers, a long-standing user of the software provider's other tools, is the first company to be revealed as a customer. The idea behind the apps is to apply Veeva's experience with cloud document storage to all of the paperwork that is involved in the regulatory side of bringing a drug to market, from submission documents and published dossiers, to product registrations and interactions with health authorities. By putting all of these documents on a cloud platform, Veeva thinks it can make it easier for drugmakers to manage their paperwork.

For global companies dealing with numerous regulatory authorities, the ability to centralize all of the paperwork holds some obvious allures. But, given the importance of the documents, Veeva needs to convince companies their files are safe. Getting Bristol-Myers to sign up is a notable milestone in this process. "This is a major win for us," Veeva CEO Peter Gassner said on a conference call to discuss the company's fourth-quarter results. "BMS started with Veeva CRM many years ago and we are thrilled to now be working together across many areas."

The expansion of Veeva's relationship with Bristol-Myers is indicative of one of the ways in which it plans to grow its business to its targeted $1 billion in sales by 2020. Sales last year totaled $409.2 million. To pull in the extra $600 million it needs to hit its target, Veeva is working to sell customer relationship management (CRM) tools to its Vault storage clients, and vice versa. As it stands, around 40% of the 219 Vault customers are also CRM clients. Upping this figure, while also selling additional Vault tools such as the regulatory apps and bringing on new clients, is key to Veeva's plans.

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- here's the call transcript