Varian Medical Systems Inc. has invested $10 million in and inked a collaboration agreement with Cota Inc., a Boston-based curator of oncology clinical data. The radiation oncology company will now offer its customers access to Cota’s oncology real-world analytics and data curation services, which aggregate electronic health record (EHR) data to yield meaningful insights.

The FDA has typically used real-world evidence (RWE) as a way of monitoring safety issues post-approval, especially through the Sentinel Initiative, which started in response to the FDA Amendments Act of 2007.