Dassault Systemes buying Medidata in $5.8 billion deal

Dassault Systemes, a French maker of industrial software and technology, is buying New York-based health data provider Medidata in a deal worth $5.8 billion.

The bottom line: Medidata registered a $52 million profit last year on $636 million of revenue, but Dassault is betting that more pharmaceutical and medical device companies will use Medidata's software to help their products clear clinical trials. More than 1,000 health care companies already use Medidata for clinical trial work.