Oracle Buys Health Care Risk Management App Specialist

The deal, which according to an Oracle press release is expected to close by the end of June, is the latest acquisition by Oracle specific to its less-than-a-year-old Health Sciences Global Business Unit.

"The health sciences industry is increasing investments in software that provide greater transparency into drug safety and help improve the overall safety of therapies," said Neil de Crescenzo, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Oracle Health Sciences, in a statement. "With the addition of Relsys, Oracle is uniquely positioned to help our customers improve drug safety by delivering a comprehensive software solution that enables our vision of integrated safety and risk management supported by advanced analytics."

Oracle's Health Sciences unit formed in June 2008 to push software applications like Oracle Clinical, Oracle Remote Data Capture, Oracle Thesaurus Management System and Oracle Life Sciences Data Hub at what Oracle describes as "increasing linkages across life sciences, diagnostics and healthcare."

What the Relsys acquisition adds is a suite of applications designed to help drug companies, medical device makers and biotech companies stay regulatory-compliant but also make their operations more efficient.

"Oracle's leading health sciences software suite combined with Relysys' safety and risk management solutions are expected to enable customers to identify safety risks earlier in the development cycle," wrote de Crescenzo and Judson Althoff, Oracle's Group Vice President for Worldwide Alliances and Channels, in an Oracle letter to partners. "Partners are expected to leverage the combined, broader footprint, to gain expanded opportunities to provide solutions, and to take advantage of Oracle's worldwide resources and partner ecosystem."

According to Oracle, the companies will operate independently until the deal is closed. Oracle did not disclose the financial details of the acquisition, but did note that all Relsys managers and employees are expected to continue with Oracle as part of its health care unit.

"Identifying safety issues earlier in the development process can significantly reduce the costs and risks associated with bringing drugs and devices to market," said Dave Bajaj, President & CEO of Relsys, in a statement. "Industry leaders trust Relsys' solutions to help them capture these benefits. We look forward to joining Oracle and helping provide the health sciences industry with the most complete, open and integrated suite of enterprise software."

Oracle last week said it would pay out its first ever quarterly dividend following stronger-than-expected numbers for its third quarter.