CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Saama Technologies, LLC (“Saama”) today announced that Vivek Sharma has joined the company as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Vivek succeeds Suresh Katta, Founder and CEO, who is being elevated to the role of Chairman Emeritus and will remain a Board member at Saama. In addition, Suresh will become an Advisor to Carlyle, a Saama investor, and its broader life sciences efforts, with a particular focus on helping its businesses increase efficiency of clinical trials.
Vivek brings over 25 years of global leadership experience. He has served as CEO at several preeminent organizations, including Decision Resources Group (DRG), Piramal Pharma Solutions, and Piramal Critical Care, in addition to his time as Managing Director at Thomas H. Lee Partners. At DRG, Vivek implemented a highly effective, growth-oriented strategy supported by data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), pharma insights, market access and an unwavering commitment to customers. Under Vivek’s leadership, DRG advanced the company’s mission to empower pharma customers with invaluable information and data access to inform impactful, patient-first commercial strategies. His tenure at DRG culminated in the successful sale of DRG to Clarivate.
“Vivek’s proven track record of implementing customer-focused strategies to achieve significant revenue growth and margin expansion makes him the ideal match to lead Saama in its next chapter. We are excited to partner with such a talented executive and look forward to the new heights to which he will lead the company,” said Joe Bress, a Managing Director specializing in Healthcare at Carlyle. “On behalf of the Saama Board, I want to thank Suresh for his dedicated service, commitment, and vision that established Saama as the #1 AI clinical analytics platform company. We are grateful for his continued guidance as a Board member.”
“I am honored to be joining Saama at such an exciting time in the company’s lifecycle. I am particularly energized to be working with its talented executive team, Suresh, and Board to continue leading the industry in its evolution from simply digitizing data to developing purpose-built, AI-based clinical insights and automation platforms that are changing the face of clinical development,” said Vivek. “Saama is uniquely well-positioned to accelerate drug development, and I look forward to expanding those opportunities for our partners and patients.”
“It was a privilege to lead Saama for 25 years and work with our global team of experts to leverage AI to reshape the drug development paradigm. I am grateful for their strong support of and belief in my leadership, which helped elevate Saama to the top of the industry,” said Suresh. “I am incredibly proud of and humbled by the amazing work we have done together and our role in helping to improve humanity’s health, particularly our partnership with Pfizer to develop the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine in less than one year. I welcome the opportunity to work with Vivek and to continue strengthening Saama’s industry leadership.”
The announcement follows the October 2021 strategic growth investment in Saama by global investment firm Carlyle and the corporate venture arms of seven healthcare-focused venture funds, including Amgen Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund (“Merck GHI”), Intermountain Ventures, McKesson Ventures, Northpond Ventures, and Population Health Partners.
About Saama Technologies, LLC
Saama is the #1 AI clinical analytics platform company, enabling the life sciences industry to conduct faster and safer clinical development and regulatory programs. Today, more than 50 biotech companies—including many of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies—use Saama’s award-winning Life Science Analytics Cloud (LSAC) platform to accelerate more than 1,500 studies, including the clinical trial that led to the world's first COVID-19 vaccine. LSAC’s rich applications facilitate unprecedented and authoritative oversight and automation of comprehensive clinical research data, enabling companies to file New Drug Applications (NDAs) more efficiently and bring treatments to patients sooner. Discover more at www.saama.com and follow @SaamaTechInc on Twitter.
