With New HQ, Boston’s Medidata Expects to Hire 600-800 Over Next 5 Years

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With plans to move into new 117,000-square-foot headquarters in Boston next month, Medidata says it expects to hire between 600 and 800 new employees over the next five years. SHYFT Analytics was bought by New York-based Medidata solutions in June. Shyft was based in Waltham, Mass. Its Waltham location was about 30,000 square feet and employed 140 people.

“This is Medidata’s first office in Boston, and the company is excited for the opportunity over the next several years to tap into the amazing life sciences and technology skills that Boston can offer,” Jill Larsen, Medidata’s chief people officer, told the Boston Business Journal.

On Feb. 11, Meditata and Cognizant announced a strategic alliance to offer comprehensive solutions using its cloud platform to life science clients. The companies said, “This provides pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device companies, contract research organizations (CROs), sites and investigators with digital capabilities to facilitate a fast start to clinical trials, simplify operational complexities and drive digital transformation.”

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Under that deal, Cognizant will develop a comprehensive set of managed services specific to Medidata’s platform. Cognizant’s areas of expertise are business process, technology and digital services, including biostats, automation and help desks. Medidata Site Payments will integrate with Cognizant's Shared Investigator Platform (SIP).

“Most life science companies have stitched together multiple legacy solutions and are in dire need for a clinical refresh,” stated Bhaskar Sambasivan, senior vice president and global head of life sciences at Cognizant. “This partnership allows us to offer and manage the most comprehensive platform and suite of services for our clients so that they can focus on the science rather than operational complexities.”

Medidata also announced its fourth-quarter year-end financials on Feb. 12. Total revenue for the quarter was $167.2 million, up 18 percent compared to $141.6 million in the same period in 2017. Subscription revenue was $141.3 million, up 18 percent compared to the same period the year before. Professional services revenue was $25.9 million, an increase of 18 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2017.

Full-year revenue was $635.7 million, up 17 percent compared to $544.2 million in 2017.

“In 2018, we expanded our market leadership in life sciences, and proved that our unique data and AI capabilities can reinvent the way treatments are developed and commercialized,” stated Tarek Sherif, chairman and chief executive officer of Medidata. “Our strong fourth quarter results capped a year of solid execution. Greater platform adoption, high customer satisfaction and our unique company culture, coupled with our performance, give us great momentum heading into 2019.”

For 2019, the company projects total revenue of $734 and $746 million, a 16-percent growth. The company expects its subscription revenue to grow 17 percent to between $619 and $631 million, and professional services revenue of about $115 million.

“We closed 2018 on a strong note, highlighted by Q4 subscription revenue growth of 18 percent and strong bookings as our total backlog grew to nearly $1.2 billion,” stated Rouven Bergmann, chief financial officer of Medidata. “Turning our focus to the future, it is clear that we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the opportunity ahead of us, and we remain focused on building momentum across our portfolio.”

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