Oracle Expands Health Care Portfolio with SAAS Acquisition

Oracle announced April 16 the acquisition of Phase Forward, which builds health care IT and life-science applications, in a cash merger worth about $685 million. The deal adds to Oracle’s health care IT portfolio at a time when the company is seeking to position itself as an end-to-end systems provider in a number of market segments, including health care.

Phase Forward has developed an SAAS (software-as-a-service) platform, termed the Integrated Clinical Research Suite, which allows health care workers to manage clinical development and medical safety processes. The company’s software has been deployed in clinical trials in addition to being used in drug development and patient care delivery.

The company’s assets will be integrated into the Oracle Health Sciences Global Business Unit; the deal itself is expected to close in mid-2010, according to Oracle.