Dassault Systèmes, virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations provider, has agreed to acquire Medidata Solutions, leader of the digital transformation of the Life Sciences industry for clinical development, commercial, and real-world data intelligence, for $5.8bn. With the acquisition, Dassault Systèmes will reinforce its position as a science-based company by providing the Life Sciences industry with an integrated business experience platform for an end-to-end approach to research and discovery, development, clinical testing, manufacturing and commercialization of new therapies and health technologies. “Medidata’s leading position in clinical trials complements our life sciences solutions on the 3DEXPERIENCE collaborative platform. Medidata’s recent expansion into real-world evidence and analytics coupled with the power of modelling and simulation demonstrates how the virtual world will catalyze the next generation of patient-inclusive therapeutics. We are now well positioned to be the enabler of the Life Sciences industry transformation, illustrating our company’s purpose of harmonizing product, nature and life,” Bernard Charlès, Dassault Systèmes Vice Chairman and CEO.