Feb 6 (Reuters) -

Contract research firm IQVIA Holdings ( IQV ) beat Wall

Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit and revenue on

Thursday, helped by the demand for its healthcare data and

analytics services.

Shares of the company were up 5.1% in premarket trading.

A rebound in commercial spending by IQVIA's ( IQV ) drug-making

clients, aided by higher drug approvals in the last two years,

has been driving growth in the company's technological and

analytical solutions unit.

Contract research organizations noted reduced spending from

biotech clients last year, but recent interest rate cuts could

improve the funding environment as borrowing costs might ease.

Durham, North Carolina-based IQVIA ( IQV ) expects 2025 adjusted

profit between $11.70 and $12.10 per share, where the midpoint

is in line with analysts' average estimate of $11.90, according

to data compiled by LSEG.

However, the company forecast 2025 revenue in the range of

$15.73 billion to $16.13 billion, where the midpoint is below

the estimate of $16.02 billion.

Fourth-quarter revenue from IQVIA's ( IQV ) research and development

solutions segment came in at $2.12 billion, compared with

expectations of $2.13 billion.

The unit has registered continued cancellations from large

drugmakers in the fourth quarter as they reprioritize their

development pipelines.

Despite cancellations, the unit's book-to-bill ratio - the

number of orders received to those fulfilled - came in at 1.20x,

which was better than expected, Leerink Partners analyst Michael

Cherny said.

The company's quarterly revenue rose 2.3% to $3.96 billion,

beating analysts' average estimate of $3.94 billion.

Its technological and analytical solutions segment,

IQVIA's ( IQV ) second-largest unit through which it provides

information and technology services to pharmaceutical and

consumer health companies, reported revenue of $1.66 billion.

Analysts on average were expecting quarterly revenue of

$1.63 billion.

IQVIA ( IQV ) posted an adjusted profit of $3.12 per share for the

fourth quarter, surpassing estimates of $3.11.