Life science technology and clinical trial data company Medidata announced today that it has acquired sensor maker MC10's digital biomarker business. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT
Medidata (a subsidiary of Dassault Systèmes) said the purchase will allow it to add biometric data and new analytics capabilities to its Patient Cloud platform, particularly to the benefit of patient-reported outcomes, clinical outcome assessments and novel biomarker discovery.
“Medidata is excited to add the pioneering work at MC10 to our ongoing efforts in building a new platform for ingestion and analytics across a wide array of mobile sensors,” Anthony Costello, senior vice president of mobile health at Medidata, said in a statement. “Incorporating remote biometric data capture and analysis that includes the MC10 nPoint BioStamp, alongside other leading mobile devices, will further strengthen the Medidata platform and help propel the digital transformation of life sciences.”
The new technology was particularly appealing to Medidata in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which industry representatives have said will likely generate greater demand for connected devices and remote trial platforms due to the complexities of in-person coordination. In its announcement, the company cited data from Intel suggesting that wearable sensors will be incorporated in as many as 70% of clinical trials by 2025.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
Medidata's acquisition places the company in direct competition with Verily, Evidation and other life sciences companies offering wearable sensors and other digital technologies to identify novel biomarkers in clinical trials. Of note, Evidation has taken on new work over the last few months with names like the Gates Foundation and BARDA that are focused on better understanding the early warning signs of COVID-19, and over the summer received $45 million in Series D funding.
Meanwhile, major names like Johnson & Johnson and LabCorp have made major pushes within their subsidiaries to better facilitate remote clinical trial designs.
ON THE RECORD
“Medidata is an exceptional fit for MC10. Our combined expertise will help customers and partners take a more data-driven approach to bringing targeted therapies to patients,” Ben Schlatka, cofounder and CEO of MC10, said in a statement. “We are looking forward to moving ahead together, accelerating the development and deployment of new innovative offerings for our customers and ultimately transforming therapy development to improve the lives of patients.”
