Certara (CERT) RBC Capital Markets Global Healthcare Conference 2026 summary

Leadership insights and company strengths

• CEO highlighted deep scientific and regulatory expertise as core strengths, with significant untapped potential in the portfolio for further product development and market expansion.

• Emphasis on leveraging prior CRO experience to democratize advanced modeling and biosimulation capabilities across the drug development lifecycle.

• Company reorganized around two growth platforms: model-informed drug discovery/development (MID3) and Accelerated Clinical Evidence (ACE), aiming to drive longitudinal engagement and digitization.

AI strategy and competitive positioning

• AI is viewed as a major enabler, with expectations to become a market leader in AI-driven drug development within three years.

• Investments are focused on integrating AI across the portfolio, with fastest growth seen in AI-native products and agentification of workflows.

• The company’s regulatory intelligence and scientific expertise are positioned as key differentiators in the AI landscape, especially for last-mile applications.

• AI is expected to accelerate the influx of new drug candidates, with the industry still in early stages of adoption.

Market environment and customer demand

• Positive trends in biotech funding, new trial starts, and regulatory engagement are driving robust demand, especially among Tier 2 and Tier 3 biotech customers.

• Funding improvements typically translate into increased spending within a quarter, benefiting both software and services segments.

• The business model is flexible, offering software-only, software with services, or fully integrated program management to match client needs.