	Parexel, a drug development solutions provider, and HealthVerity, Inc., a technology platform provider, have announced a strategic partnership to expand Parexel’s network of real-world data (RWD) for customers. Through this collaboration, Parexel will gain access to HealthVerity’s diverse data sets including claims, electronic medical records (EMR), lab data and social determinants of health, enabled through the HealthVerity suite of privacy-preserving technologies, to provide customized RWD solutions to help life sciences companies solve their most complex clinical trial demands.

	“Real-world, data-enabled clinical research holds great potential to transform and accelerate drug development, and is beginning to gain endorsement from regulatory agencies,” said Michelle Hoiseth, Senior Vice President and Chief Data Officer, Parexel. “However, the traditionally available large, proprietary data sets are of limited use in conducting these studies. By partnering with HealthVerity, Parexel can source the data best suited to support the intended analysis from a variety of resources. Drawing on our proven regulatory expertise, we can meet the needs of regulators to help leverage these studies to bring new therapies to market.”

	Through the HealthVerity partnership, Parexel customers will have access to data for more than 330 million patients collected from more than 60 healthcare and consumer data sources that are anonymized and made interoperable via HealthVerity proprietary technology. Andrew Kress, Co-founder and CEO, HealthVerity, notes, “At HealthVerity, our technology enables the foundation for a more efficient, transparent and privacy-compliant way to leverage real-world healthcare data. We’re very excited to partner with Parexel as the company continues to lead the industry discussion on how data can change how we think about clinical trials in the future and accelerate new therapies for patients.”

	The partnership builds on Parexel’s real-world, data-agnostic approach, which integrates access to a range of data types, advanced technologies, data science capabilities and clinical and consulting expertise. A report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit and commissioned by Parexel found that drugs developed using real-world data had a 21 percent higher likelihood of launch, and real-world data studies resulted in reduced recruitment time. The report also identified advanced data analytics-including sharing of data across established siloes-as a key enabler to innovation in drug development and commercialization.