As the Evidence Bar Rises, EVERSANA Acquires Estima Scientific

EVERSANA has acquired Estima Scientific, a London-based health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) technology and services company, the commercialization services provider announced Oct. 28. The deal folds Estima's AI-powered evidence tools into EVERSANA's market access and value solutions offerings, where they are intended to help manufacturers demonstrate a drug's clinical and economic value to payers.¹

What Does Estima Scientific Bring to EVERSANA?

Estima combines specialty HEOR consulting with proprietary software, including web-based generative AI applications for economic modeling, systematic literature reviews and network meta-analysis. EVERSANA plans to integrate both into its market access and value and evidence solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

How Are Payers and Health Technology Assessment Bodies Weighing Real-World Evidence?

“We've passed the point where real-world evidence is just a nice-to-have,” EVERSANA CEO Mark Thierer said in a statement to Pharmaceutical Commerce.² “We're seeing that payers and HTA bodies now actively use RWE as a core tool to fill clinical trial gaps and evaluate value, especially in rare diseases and oncology. Assessors have zero hesitation in raising flags about reimbursement if detailed, comparator-ready real-world data isn't there to back up your clinical story. That's why we're continuing to invest in the talent, technology, and capabilities to help manufacturers build that evidence,” Thierer said.

In a survey conducted through the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy's (AMCP) Research Institute, 80% of payers that were surveyed reported wanting to use real-world evidence (RWE) in their formulary and coverage decision-making, despite just 18% regularly using it in their processes.³ AMCP has since published payer-focused RWE standards, including a checklist manufacturers can use as a template when sharing RWE with payer decision-makers. Pharmaceutical Commerce has examined how those standards aim to close the communication gap between manufacturers and payers.

For Thierer, the implication for manufacturers is timing.

“Companies need to stop treating evidence generation as a late-stage, check-the-box exercise,” he said.² “Evidence strategy needs to start much earlier in development, with clinical, medical, market access and commercial teams working toward the same objective. You can't build a compelling value story at the finish line.”

What Does the Deal Signal for Pharma Commercialization?

Estima's tools address a related piece of the value case: the economic modeling and evidence synthesis that EVERSANA says help manufacturers demonstrate a drug's value to payers.

The deal also extends EVERSANA's investment in AI. According to Thierer, AI is currently making its biggest practical impact by automating complex processes at scale across medical affairs, market research and marketing. He also pointed to the work still ahead.

“We've still got a ton of work to do to move past pilots and fundamentally rethink operating models to scale AI across the entire commercialization process,” Thierer said.² “Companies that don't get on board will be left behind.”

“And that will hurt their bottom line but more importantly, it’s patients who lose when we can’t bring therapies to market faster and more effectively,” he said.²

Thierer positioned evidence generation as a commercialization priority that should start early in development. The deal is EVERSANA’s bet that AI can speed the HEOR work behind it.

References

1. EVERSANA. “EVERSANA Expands Global Commercialization and AI-Powered HEOR Capabilities with Acquisition of U.K.-based Estima Scientific.” Emailed Press release. October 28, 2026.

2. Mark Thierer, CEO, EVERSANA. Emailed statement to Pharmaceutical Commerce. October 28, 2026.

3. Lockhart CM, Powers E, Sweet B, et al. AMCP real-world evidence standards: Overcoming barriers to using real-world evidence in US payer decision-making. Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy. 2025;31(12):1230-1236. Published online June 27, 2025. doi:10.18553/jmcp.2025.25108