Medidata and SHYFT Analytics have announced a strategic commercial partnership to increase access to healthcare data analytics in clinical trials. The partnership will enable life sciences companies to add real world evidence (RWE) data from electronic medical records (EMRs) and health claims to information traditionally collected in clinical trials, providing a more comprehensive view of patient health.

Using Medidata’s clinical technology platform and SHYFT’s intelligent analytics, life sciences companies and their CRO partners can analyze RWE data to improve study design and site selection, two of the most critical and costly components of successful drug development programs. The joint offering will provide insights that can be used to identify specific patient populations for studies across therapeutic areas, supporting efforts to design more effective protocols, more efficiently recruit study participants and uncover the best treatment paths in clinical practice.

“As life sciences companies embark on more complex and targeted programs in oncology, rare diseases and a range of therapeutic areas, embedding real world evidence data and outcomes-based analytics early in the clinical trial process is imperative for success,” said Mike Capone, Medidata’s chief operating officer. “Our partnership with SHYFT is part of our ongoing efforts to help life sciences companies realize the value of data assets, providing the capabilities to overcome key R&D challenges and, in doing so, speed time to market and more quickly deliver new medicines to patients.”

In working with more than 700 life sciences customers, Medidata has amassed among the largest sets of clinical data assets in the world. Combining the breadth and depth of Medidata’s clinical data with SHYFT’s real world evidence capabilities will provide the life sciences industry with unparalleled healthcare analytics. The partnership coincides with the recent completion of SHYFT’s Series B investment round, which included investments from Medidata, McKesson Ventures and other healthcare industry leaders.

“This partnership represents an opportunity to leverage real world data and analytics to solve new and emerging challenges in clinical and drug-development activities,” added Zackary King, CEO and co-founder of SHYFT Analytics. “Customers can derive tremendous value from patient-centered data analytics and broaden its decision-driving utility across the enterprise. We’re excited to approach these challenges in partnership with Medidata and with a shared vision for advancing healthcare through analytics.”

Founded in 2004, SHYFT helps life sciences companies integrate and translate different healthcare data sets into actionable insights. The company works with customers to integrate data from multiple third-party systems into its cloud platform, where the information is then delivered as personalized insights and analytics to clients across the clinical and commercial continuum.