Software company Oracle finalized its acquisition of Relsys International, a provider of drug safety and risk management applications, in a deal that Oracle says will extend its leadership in the health sciences industry.

Through this acquisition, Oracle hopes to deliver a suite of software applications that enables customers to identify safety risks earlier in the development cycle, provide greater transparency into safety reporting and allow companies to better perform post-market surveillance.

Relsys, which supports adverse event reporting, risk management and data analysis for drug and medical device developers and contract research organizations, will become part of Oracle’s health sciences global business unit.

“We have been serving the CRO industry, but there are key customers of Relsys who are among the world’s largest pharma and biotech companies who will now have a broader product portfolio from Oracle,” said Neil de Crescenzo, senior vice president and general manager for the Oracle health sciences unit.

Oracle’s health sciences unit was created last year to address opportunities in the life sciences and healthcare industries. The company acquired the intellectual property assets of Conformia Software in June to enhance its existing technology for managing drug development, packaging and commercialization.

“We expect to continue to experience substantial growth in line with the market opportunity and our expanding product portfolio,” de Crescenzo said.

As part of the deal with Relsys, Oracle acquired all of the company’s employees and management. DeCrescenzo would not say how many employees were involved in the transaction but said the transfer of these employees was critical to the deal because of their industry knowledge and domain expertise.

Relsys was founded in 1987 and has locations in California, New Jersey, the UK, Japan and India. Oracle would not release specific information about the company’s size at the time of acquisition but said the California and India offices would remain open.

Oracle, which has partnered with Relsys in the past, selected Relsys for this acquisition based on its reputation in the industry. According to Oracle, 21 of the top 50 global pharmaceutical companies currently rely on Argus, Relsys adverse event reporting system. Although the Relsys brand will be discontinued following the acquisition, specific product names like Argus will continue.