SAS has formed a life sciences organisation that will
operate within its Americas sales division.
The organisation will focus on supporting healthcare providers,
health insurers and biomedical companies, which includes
pharmaceuticals, said Chris Glass, SAS life sciences
strategist.
"What we see happening in the market is that these biomedical
companies, the health insurers and the providers are all getting
closer together, so what we're doing is positioning ourselves so
that we can facilitate communications," Glass said. "Their
conversations are all about data."
What SAS can help customers do is to create and track paper
trails for various aspects of life sciences, including clinical
drug trials and provide the ability to aggregate data from various
sources.
Besides marketing existing software through the division, the
company will also develop new products for the life sciences.
While SAS has a history in life sciences, its decision to
dedicate a business unit to that area follows a general IT supplier
trend that includes IBM, Hewlett-Packard - which became the top IT
supplier in terms of revenue after acquiring Compaq Computer - and
Oracle, which is a SAS competitor.