ShareVault

Built around what is being protected

ShareVault, founded in 2003 and headquartered in the United States, is most often found in transactions where the most valuable asset is information itself: patent portfolios, clinical data, manufacturing know-how and licensing terms. In these deals, a leak can damage a company more than a failed sale, and the data room’s main job is to let a counterparty evaluate without letting it keep.

Deals of this kind also last longer than a typical sale. A partnering discussion can run for many months, with several counterparties reviewing the same package at different times. The room has to stay controlled throughout, and its audit trail may become evidence if a confidentiality dispute ever arises.

A typical licensing scenario

Picture a European biotech partnering a compound with a US pharmaceutical company, with a Japanese co-development partner reviewing part of the data package. The licensor wants each party to see only what is relevant to its rights, to read without downloading, and to lose access instantly if talks stop.

That combination, plus ISO 27001 and SOC 2, is why ShareVault appears on life sciences shortlists. Our life sciences and biotech guide covers the wider set of needs in these deals.

The audit trail plays a second role in licensing that it rarely plays in M&A. If a former partner later develops a similar product, the record of exactly which files it accessed, and when, can be relevant evidence. Licensors should therefore make sure the log can be exported and kept after the room closes.

A gap to check: two-factor login

ShareVault offers single sign-on, which suits counterparties whose own identity systems enforce strong authentication. Two-factor login for room users, however, is not listed in our research. For external participants who sign in directly rather than through SSO, that can be a gap in an otherwise protective setup. Ask the provider how authentication is enforced for outside users before sharing your most sensitive data.

If two-factor login is not available, consider limiting the most sensitive material to counterparties that sign in through SSO, and keeping the wider audience to less sensitive summaries.

Pricing and evaluation

ShareVault quotes pricing and offers a free trial. Licensing deals often run longer than M&A processes, with data packages reviewed over many months, so ask for the cost of a long-running room as well as a short one, in your reporting currency. Treat any figures as indicative until confirmed by the provider. Our VDR pricing guide explains how duration affects cost.

Currency exposure deserves attention in biotech, where companies often raise in one currency and spend in another. A quote fixed in US dollars for a long-running room moves with exchange rates, so ask whether billing in your own currency is possible.

What to weigh against it

Built-in redaction, AI tools, an API, e-signature and a mobile app are not listed. Ease of use is the lowest of ShareVault’s scores in our model, and value is moderate given quoted pricing. For a licensing deal where control matters more than speed, these trade-offs may be acceptable. For a fast M&A process with many first-time users, they weigh more heavily.

Teams that choose ShareVault often add a separate redaction step for clinical or personal data, handled by counsel before upload, to cover the missing in-room tool.

Comparable options

For document protection in a lighter form, Digify focuses on rights control and tracking at a published price. For a full deal room with two-factor login, structured Q&A, rights control and AI tools, compare Ellty.