DistillerSR

What DistillerSR does

DistillerSR (legal entity DistillerSR Inc., formerly Evidence Partners Inc.) is a private Ottawa-based software company founded in 2008 that builds an AI-enabled platform for automating and managing literature-based research and evidence synthesis. The platform supports systematic reviews, rapid reviews, living reviews, and clinical evaluation reports (CER) used in regulated life sciences workflows, and is built around a configurable workflow engine, an integrated audit trail, and a suite of purpose-built AI capabilities including Smart Evidence Extraction (SEE), AI Re-Rank, AI Classifiers, AI Error Checking, and Agentic AI. The company serves four primary vertical segments: pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, contract research organizations (CROs), and academic and public sector institutions, with named enterprise customers including Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Abbott, AstraZeneca, AbbVie, Gilead, Philips, Boston Scientific, Stryker, NuVasive, Geistlich Pharma, Terumo Medical, and ICON.

The platform's commercial model combines SaaS subscriptions with substantial expert managed services. Academic and individual tiers are priced on a published self-service basis (Student at $19.95/month, Faculty at $94/year, Research Project at $194/year), while corporate and government pricing is quote-based and typically multi-year with professional services, API integration, BI integration, data governance, and audit assistance included. The company is backed by a $20 million growth financing round closed in August 2022, led by Thomvest Ventures with participation from Pender Ventures and Export Development Canada, and reports 300+ customers with claimed penetration of 80% among both top medical device and top pharmaceutical companies, plus 75+ academic institutions and 40+ public sector organizations. The platform manages 24 million references and integrates with Elsevier Embase, PubMed, RightFind, Article Galaxy, EBSCO, OVID, Oracle Argus, Oracle Safety One Intake, Power BI, and Tableau.

Name

DistillerSR

Legal name

DistillerSR Inc.

Website

https://distillersr.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

DistillerSR is a private Ottawa-based software company that provides an AI-enabled platform for automating systematic literature reviews and evidence synthesis, primarily serving pharmaceutical, medical device, CRO, academic, and public sector customers in regulated life sciences workflows.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literature Review Automation Software

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Regulatory Submissions & Clinical Content Management (eCTD/Publishing) (HLACAOAN)

Keywords

• Literature review software
• Systematic review automation
• Evidence management platform
• AI-enabled research tools
• Regulatory submission software

Headquarters

HQ city

Ottawa

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Platform Subscription: Cloud-based software-as-a-service platform with subscription pricing. Includes tiered plans for academic/student, faculty, research project, departmental, and institutional levels. Enterprise corporate and government pricing is quote-based.
2. Expert Managed Services: Professional services including unlimited project and report configuration, AI readiness assessment, AI classifiers configuration, evidence reuse implementation, data governance, API integration, BI integration and data visualization, data migration, and audit assistance.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

DistillerSR builds an AI-enabled, cloud-based SaaS platform that automates the conduct and management of systematic literature reviews and evidence-based research. The platform replaces manual, spreadsheet-based workflows with configurable, audit-ready processes for reference screening, data extraction, deduplication, and reporting, and is enhanced by purpose-built generative AI for evidence extraction and prioritization. Customers include pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, contract research organizations, academic institutions, and government/NGO bodies that need traceable, regulatory-grade literature reviews for submissions such as CERs, PSURs, HEOR/HTA dossiers, and clinical practice guidelines.

Product overview

DistillerSR is an AI-enabled literature review and evidence management platform that offers a unified product portfolio consisting of the core DistillerSR platform plus specialized modules and add-on capabilities. The core DistillerSR platform automates literature-based research and surveillance with configurable workflows, audit trails, and AI-powered features. Supporting modules include CuratorCR for evidence reuse and repository management, DistillerSR LitConnect for auto-alert database integration, and DistillerSR AI which encompasses Smart Evidence Extraction (SEE), AI Re-Rank, AI Classifiers, AI Error Checking, and Agentic AI capabilities. Expert Managed Services provide professional configuration, training, and integration support. The platform serves academic institutions, medical device companies, pharmaceutical companies, and public sector organizations with tiered pricing from student subscriptions to institutional enterprise plans.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CuratorCR: Evidence management module that enables centralized evidence access, copyright management, and data reuse across the organization.

Products and services

• DistillerSR Platform The core AI-enabled, cloud-based evidence management platform that automates the conduct and management of literature-based research and surveillance. Supports systematic reviews, rapid reviews, living reviews, and CER literature reviews with configurable workflows, integrated audit trail, AI-powered screening and data extraction, and capacity for over 700,000 references per project. Sold to pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, CROs, academic institutions, and public sector/NGO organizations via enterprise subscriptions and self-service academic plans.
• CuratorCR Evidence Management Evidence reuse module that creates a centralized repository of literature evidence and automatically identifies previously extracted data to ensure teams avoid extracting the same information repeatedly. Automates evidence management, accelerates research, cuts costs, and streamlines submissions for pharmaceutical, medical device, and academic organizations managing large evidence bases.
• DistillerSR AI AI-powered capability suite for the DistillerSR platform that includes Smart Evidence Extraction (SEE) for extracting text and table data, AI Re-Rank for prioritizing relevant references, AI Classifiers for auto-labeling by study design or PICO, AI Error Checking for exclusion-pattern anomaly detection, and Agentic AI for drafting regulatory reports using validated evidence. Reduces screening time by up to 70% and is offered as an integrated capability for enterprise customers.
• DistillerSR LitConnect Auto-alert integration module that connects DistillerSR projects to prominent reference databases (EBSCO, OVID, PubMed) to automatically import new articles matching project search criteria. Eliminates the need for manual update searches at the end of reviews and reruns for living reviews, and is included with the Research Project subscription tier and above.
• Expert Managed Services Professional services engagement where DistillerSR experts manage the platform on behalf of customers, including unlimited project and report configuration, AI readiness assessment, AI classifiers configuration, evidence reuse enablement, data governance, API integration, BI integration and data visualization, data migration, and audit assistance. Sold alongside enterprise subscriptions to reduce cost and risk of dedicated internal administration.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces literature review screening time by up to 70%
• +10 more outcomes

Named customers23 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

AI capability9 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Elsevier (Embase)coreTechnology or Integration · 4 November 2025Collaboration to integrate Elsevier's Embase database with DistillerSR's evidence management platform, enabling better access through Embase's API. Aims to accelerate evidence synthesis, improve data quality, and reduce manual processes for users in clinical research and regulatory submissions.
• Philips Medical SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator in Eureka-ITEA research consortium, a six-country international R&D network representing 45 countries. Contributing to development of purpose-built GenAI for literature evidence extraction.
• University of Leiden Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborator in Eureka-ITEA research consortium, contributing to international R&D network for AI-enabled literature review technology development.
• Eureka-ITEA Research ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThree-year international R&D consortium with six-country network representing 45 countries. Milestone launch of Smart Evidence Extraction (SEE) with 8.3 percentage point improvement on LitQA benchmark. Includes collaborators from industry and academia.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Covidence: Covidence is a leading SaaS platform for systematic literature reviews, primarily serving academic and Cochrane-style reviews. It is the closest direct competitor to DistillerSR in the literature review automation category, though DistillerSR is more weighted toward regulated enterprise customers.
• Rayyan: Rayyan provides AI-assisted screening and systematic review software used widely in academic and health research. Comparable to DistillerSR's screening and AI classifier capabilities, though Rayyan's strengths are in free/PLG adoption while DistillerSR leads in regulated enterprise deployments.
• EPPI-Reviewer: EPPI-Reviewer is a web-based systematic review tool developed at UCL. It overlaps with DistillerSR in academic systematic review workflows and is often compared in health technology assessment and Cochrane reviews.

Emerging players

• Nested Knowledge: Nested Knowledge offers an integrated platform for systematic literature reviews, evidence mapping, and clinical trial visualization. It competes with DistillerSR in HEOR and HTA workflows, though with a smaller installed base.
• Trial Library: Trial Library focuses on clinical trial transparency and evidence dissemination tooling. It is an emerging player that addresses adjacent evidence-management workflows used by pharma sponsors, with partial overlap to DistillerSR's regulatory reporting use cases.

Broad incumbents

• Clarivate: Clarivate operates Cortellis and a broad suite of life sciences intelligence, regulatory, and evidence-synthesis offerings. It is a broad incumbent that competes with DistillerSR in HEOR and regulatory submission support, though its portfolio extends well beyond literature review automation.
• Elsevier: Elsevier owns Embase and a range of life sciences content and analytics products. As a content and tooling incumbent, Elsevier both partners with DistillerSR (Embase integration) and competes with broader workflow offerings to pharma customers.
• IQVIA: IQVIA is the largest life sciences services and data platform, with HEOR, RWE, and evidence-synthesis capabilities. It is a broad incumbent that competes with DistillerSR for the same pharma wallet, particularly in HEOR and HTA submissions.
• Veeva Systems: Veeva's Vault platform manages regulatory submissions, clinical content, and quality for life sciences. It overlaps with DistillerSR in regulated document and submission workflows, though Vault is a broader content/regulatory suite rather than a literature review specialist.

Regional players

• CMAC (previously Systematic Review Solutions): CMAC provides training and tooling around systematic reviews primarily in academic and clinical guideline contexts. Regional/instructional overlap with DistillerSR's academic customer base, though it is less focused on regulated enterprise deployments.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/distillersr
• Xx.com/evidencepartner

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about DistillerSR