Veeva buys brand engagement firm Ostro for $100m

Veeva Systems has built its presence in brand engagement with the acquisition of Ostro, a tech startup that helps pharma companies connect with doctors and patients using AI-powered conversational tools.

The deal – valued at around $100 million in cash and long-term equity retention grants – will allow Ostro's engagement system to be integrated with Veeva's Commercial Cloud, a suite of software, data, and analytics used by life sciences companies to manage sales, marketing, and medical functions.

Miami, Florida-based Ostro – which was founded in 2019 – will operate as an independent unit of Veeva and will continue to be led by co-founder and chief executive Chase Feiger, according to a statement issued by the two companies.

"We're focused on shortening the time it takes to identify and treat health conditions," said Feiger. "We built Ostro to remove friction so patients and doctors can get trusted answers with less clicking, thinking, and scrolling. With Veeva, we can bring that experience to many more patients, doctors, and brands."

Ostro's conversational AI and semantic search tools allow customers to easily ask questions and receive approved information, resources, and next steps in real-time, according to the statement. The company's tools are used by around half of the top 20 pharma companies, helping to deliver tailored content to healthcare professionals and guide patients to appropriate treatments.

The platform can also be used to come up with pointers to help brands improve their reach and engagement. Ostro says responses from its platform, drawn exclusively from pre-approved medical, legal, and regulatory materials, are 100% compliant with regulations.

"AI has changed how people get information. It's no longer about how much information you can put out there, it's about how easy it is for customers to get answers," said Veeva CEO Peter Gassner.

"Ostro is leading the way in helping brands ensure patients and doctors have instant access to accurate information," he added.

This is the second company acquired by Veeva this month, with the deal announced shortly after it bought Yonalink to bolster its position in clinical trial management, taking control of its AI-enabled electronic data capture (EDC) platform for harvesting electronic health record data, which is used to reduce manual data entry and errors and speed up trials.

The acquisitions should build on a strong growth trajectory at Veeva, which earlier this month reported revenues up 16% to $3.2 billion, with 767 customers for Commercial Solutions and 1,196 for its R&D and Quality Solutions suite.