Aetion’s Series B fundraising saw investments from Sanofi, UCB, McKesson Ventures, and Horizon Health Services, which join earlier investors including Amgen Ventures.
The latest strategic investment totaled $27m, capping the NY-based company’s total Series B funding at $63m. Since launching in 2015, Aetion has raised $77m.
The funds will be used to further develop Aetion’s Evidence Platform, which is designed to strengthen the use of real-world evidence (RWE).
The investment also will be used to “grow new customers and markets in life sciences, payer and provider industries, globally, while we build-out our platform to support specific therapeutic area-related intelligence,” an Aetion spokesperson told us.
Areas of related intelligence the company looks to grow into are oncology, immunology, cardio-metabolic, and neurology.
The spokesperson added that the company will expand its support for payers “by helping with value-based contracts, formulary design, and optimization of treatment pathways, as they shift to value-based contracting.”
“Ultimately, we are working globally to advance the adoption of and standards for real-world evidence, as indicated by this clear endorsement from market leaders,” the spokesperson said.
According to the company, its evidence platform is used by eight global biopharma firms as well as academic institutions. Since 2017, it has seen a 100% customer renewal rate.
A ‘wholesale industry shift’
In 2018, Aetion entered a partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to recreate 30 randomized clinical trials through the use of real-world evidence (RWE). This was done in an aim to demonstrate the value of RWE as an accelerant to drug approval and access decisions.
The Aetion spokesperson told us, “In extensive testing, the Aetion Evidence Platform has demonstrated a high degree of accuracy against a range of FDA modular programs, including the FDA Sentinel system, the established standard for decision-makers using health care database analytics.”
The three-year study, referred to as DUPLICATE, was referenced in the FDA’s framework for its Real-World Evidence Program.
Harvard Medical School and Brigham Women’s Hospital also selected Aetion’s Evidence Platform to support its REPEAT program. “We’re in the midst of a wholesale industry shift, a new era in which a wide range of health care players recognize the importance of backing their decisions with RWE,” the Aetion spokesperson added.
“As life science companies and payers increasingly recognize the impact RWE can have in making more efficient, higher quality decisions, they are turning to Aetion as the company with the only scientifically validated platform that can undertake complex analyses to generate real-world evidence at scale.”