Global Health Care Leaders Back Aetion with $27 Million Strategic Investment

Sanofi, UCB, McKesson Ventures, and Horizon Health Services Endorse Aetion's Vision for Real-World Evidence

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Feb 05, 2019, 00:00 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Aetion, the health care technology company that delivers the real-world analytics and evidence platform needed to engage in value-based care, announced it has attracted strategic investment from global leaders in biopharma and health care services, including Sanofi, UCB, McKesson Ventures, and Horizon Health Services, Inc., a Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey company — four new strategic shareholders that join Amgen Ventures, an earlier investor. Existing venture capital investors also participated in this round, including NEA, Flare Capital, and Lakestar.

The latest strategic capital infusion of $27 million reflects Aetion's substantial growth in customer adoption over the past year. Coupled with its prior funding in early 2018, the investment caps the total Series B funding at $63 million. This brings Aetion's total funding to $77 million since its 2015 launch. Investment funds will be applied to strengthen the Aetion Evidence Platform™, extending its reach in therapeutic area-related intelligence, outcomes-based contracting for payers, and advancing the acceptance of standards for real-world evidence around the globe.

"The time for real-world evidence is now," said Carolyn Magill, Chief Executive Officer of Aetion. "We're entering a new era in which nearly the entire health care ecosystem — from biopharma and regulators to payers and technology companies — recognizes the importance of using real-world evidence to reduce the time and cost to bring new therapies to market. This funding demonstrates that the industry's leaders, who are using our technology to drive health care's most critical decisions, view Aetion as a trusted partner vital to their long-term success."

For Aetion, strategic backing from a sweep of biopharma, health care services, and payer organizations with investment capital reinforces its position as an unbiased thought-leader at the forefront of industry adoption of real-world evidence, and underscores growing confidence among its partners and clients in the Aetion Evidence Platform as the analytics tool of record.

"We are at an inflection point, in which the convergence of massive analytical advances and enormous amounts of new data are transforming what's possible in health care," said Ameet Nathwani, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Sanofi. "Aetion is ideally positioned to lead this shift, given the power of its technology and extensive experience with biopharma leaders and the FDA. Sanofi is excited to join as a strategic investor as the company helps set the global standards for real-world evidence."

"Aetion's abilities represent the leading edge of member-centric, value-based care," said Bill Georges, Chief Strategy Officer at Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. "Horizon has successfully deployed Aetion's analytics and leveraged real-world evidence to determine which treatments are most effective for specific patient populations with diabetes. Horizon shares this data with our members' doctors to help them deliver more effective treatment regimens that work to improve outcomes for our members and reduce their overall cost of care. We are thrilled to be collaborating with Aetion as a strategic investor and excited to expand the number of Horizon members who will benefit directly from Aetion's innovation."

Aetion is coming off a year of strong growth, and this funding continues the company's momentum. Today, the Aetion Evidence Platform is used by eight of the top 15 global biopharma firms, leading payers, academic institutions, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other major international regulatory bodies. Since 2017, it has seen a 100 percent customer renewal rate.

"Aetion shares our ambition to transform the future for people living with severe diseases, and our passion for science-driven approaches that serve this goal," said Iris Loew-Friedrich, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer at UCB. "Aetion's transparent evidence serves as a bridge between UCB and its payers, enabling us to apply real-world evidence to engage them in new ways. We're thrilled to build upon our strong relationship with Aetion as a strategic investor."

Also in 2018, Aetion began a partnership with the FDA to recreate 30 randomized clinical trials through real-world evidence, to demonstrate its value as an accelerant to drug approval and access decisions. The three-year study, named DUPLICATE, is referenced in the FDA's recently released F ramework for its Real-World Evidence Program, which applies across its drug and biologic review programs — yet another clear signal that real-world evidence will modernize how treatments are developed, approved, and commercialized.

"Aetion is poised to be the partner of choice for biopharma companies, payers and regulators looking to leverage real-world evidence given its unique relationships across the health care ecosystem and its expertise in protocols and treatment-based analytics," said Tom Rodgers, SVP and Managing Director at McKesson Ventures.

To learn more, visit Aetion's website and subscribe to its newsletter at www.aetion.com.

About Aetion
Aetion is a health care technology company that delivers real-world evidence for life sciences, payers, providers, and regulatory agencies. The Aetion Evidence Platform analyzes data from the real world to produce transparent, rapid, and scientifically validated answers on treatments, costs, and outcomes. Founded by Harvard Medical School faculty members with decades of experience in epidemiology and health outcomes research, Aetion informs health care's most critical decisions — what works best, for whom, and when — to guide treatment development, commercialization, and payment innovation into health care's modern era.

Aetion is based in New York City, and backed by investors including New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Flare Capital Partners, Lakestar, Town Hall Ventures, McKesson Ventures, Sanofi Ventures, Amgen Ventures, UCB, and Horizon Health Services, Inc. Learn more at aetion.com, and follow us at @aetioninc.

SOURCE Aetion