An RWD attainment

COPENHAGEN, Denmark—Cytel Inc., a provider of analytical software and consulting services to the biopharmaceutical sector and a portfolio company of New Mountain Capital, has announced the acquisition of MTEK Sciences to further expand its advanced real-world analytics (RWA) capabilities. Cytel is currently showcasing its extensive range of RWA solutions for the first time at ISPOR Europe 2019 (November 2–6).

The acquisition of MTEK is the latest step in Cytel’s journey to advance the field of modern data analytics. The use of real-world data (RWD) from a variety of sources, such as information from electronic healthcare records and wearable devices, has the potential to expedite the design and implementation of clinical trials, facilitate product commercialization and better inform healthcare decision-making. As a result, many pharmaceutical companies are now looking to augment their clinical development and commercialization processes through its utilization.

“Complex RWD sets are now abundant in the healthcare sector, opening up a wealth of opportunity for pharmaceutical organizations of all sizes,” said Joshua Schultz, chief executive officer at Cytel. “Advanced and more sophisticated analytical methods and decision-modeling techniques are needed to harness RWD and turn it into trustworthy evidence. At Cytel, we’re applying our long history of innovative statistical methods to RWD to generate cost-effective insights for our clients, and the acquisition of MTEK is another avenue where we are amplifying this approach.”

Over the past 30 years Cytel has been working on facilitating more efficient and resourceful clinical development, including pioneering the evolution of the adaptive clinical trial, an area MTEK has also excelled at. Cytel’s team includes more than 100 specialist programmers and applied statisticians with direct experience in the area of RWA — from health economics and outcomes research to the design of novel RWD-driven clinical trials. Together, Cytel and MTEK will help companies use RWD to support smarter clinical development and, through innovative approaches to comparative effectiveness research, create more efficient commercialization strategies.

“Our experience has shown us that companies need to look beyond the confines of traditional analytical approaches if RWD is to positively transform clinical development. In working with Cytel, we’re enhancing our combined ability to develop and deploy the novel solutions needed to confidently guide companies through this rapidly changing landscape,” noted Professor Edward Mills, founding partner and director of MTEK.

MTEK Sciences specializes in using innovative methods such as machine learning models and Bayesian optimization to derive clinical insights from large and complex RWD. The acquisition of the firm will allow Cytel to continue to build on its strong foundation in the RWA space.

“Cytel and MTEK have a tightly aligned vision for the future of RWD applications,” added Professor Kristian Thorlund, founding partner and director of MTEK. “Combining our comprehensive statistical know-how means we can deliver greater innovation to a wider array of companies as they seek to enrich their drug development process with RWD.”

Schultz commented regarding Cytel’s attendance at ISPOR Europe 2019, “Three decades of rich statistical expertise and experience has guided the development of our cutting-edge RWA solutions — and we look forward to meeting with delegates to discuss how we can help them effectively leverage these to achieve their goals.”