Accenture has announced its acquisition of Bionest, a consulting and strategy firm focused on helping leading biopharma organizations navigate complex strategic decisions across numerous areas of life sciences including oncology, precision medicine and diagnostics, rare diseases, and cell & gene therapy. The terms of the deal were not publicly disclosed.
The New York-headquartered Bionest serves both major established and emerging pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in both North America and Europe, and will see its team of 46 science-focused specialists, industry executives, and consultants joining Accenture Strategy’s life sciences practice, with its go-to-market strategy focus helping to expand the firm’s capabilities in the life sciences space.
The advent of highly complex and personalized therapies is creating a dynamic combination of science and health technology, which is expected to drive 81% of biopharma revenue growth between 2021 and 2026, outpacing Accenture’s previous forecast of 54% of all revenues from 2017-2022. The combination, dubbed “New Science” by the firm, is filling unmet needs, but leaving biopharma companies juggling increasingly complex challenges, including patient access issues and an evolving economic and regulatory environment. With the challenges growing alongside the newly emerging market for New Science-based therapeutics, biopharma companies must constantly assess their go-to-market strategy to make the best use of highly-customized — and highly expensive — innovations.
Accenture has recently been one of the most acquisition-focused companies in the technology space, with Bionest serving as the company’s third acquisition since the start of 2023, following purchases of European regulatory-focused consultancy SKS Group and Washington-based digital supply chain consultant Inspirage.
Brad Michel, Accenture Senior Managing Director for the North America Life Sciences practice, said in a statement that the Bionest team will be an important part of expanding Accenture’s biopharma business.
“Biopharma companies are shifting to New Science to drive more precise and effective ways to treat and care for patients in previously unattainable ways,” Michel said. “Oncology, precision medicine, and cell and gene therapies will drive disproportionate growth while delivering differentiated patient outcomes in the coming years. The addition of Bionest’s highly skilled team of experts expands our capabilities and will support our clients in bringing therapeutics to patients faster and more efficiently.”
