Datavant to Acquire Aetion, Expanding Into End-to-End Real-World Evidence Analytics for Life Sciences

Datavant has announced its acquisition of Aetion, a real-world evidence (RWE) platform used by regulators and biopharma companies to assess drug effectiveness and safety. The combined platform is expected to offer an end-to-end solution for discovering, linking, curating, and analyzing real-world data at scale, building on Datavant’s tokenization and connectivity infrastructure and Aetion’s regulatory-grade analytics suite.

Datavant, previously positioned as a neutral health data connector, will now directly compete with platforms using its own infrastructure. Brigham Hyde, CEO of Atropos Health, likened the acquisition to the ambient AI boom, referencing companies like Abridge (now valued at $2.75 billion) as examples of best-in-class emergence. He also commented:

"We applaud the direction here. I think we're just at the beginning. I think Datavant realizes that and is voting behind it.
What does this mean for the real-world data and healthcare data ecosystem for Datavant to leave their neutral position and begin competing with their own network and companies that have trusted and built with them for years? Will that lead to a shift in those networks and what tokens are used for de-identification? That's an unknown, but that's the question in everybody's mind."

The acquisition integrates Aetion’s Evidence Platform and new Activate module (which supports code and no-code workflows for biostatistics and epidemiology) with Datavant Connect, which leverages AWS Clean Rooms for privacy-preserving data access. Post-close, the joint ecosystem will span over 300 data partners, with enhanced tools for evidence planning, data discovery, and regulatory use cases across biopharma, payers, and health systems.

Aetion’s analytics will now be embedded within Datavant’s broader infrastructure, enabling users to move from data exchange to real-time insights across the drug lifecycle. The Aetion platform is also now available via AWS Marketplace, further aligning the ecosystem with cloud-first deployment and interoperability models.

Topics: Startups & Deals