Assurex Health, which develops pharmacogenomics technology to help providers with decision making for behavioral health and chronic pain conditions, has raised $30 million in equity from new and existing investors.
Assurex Health was founded in 2006 on the commercialization of technology developed at the Mayo Clinic and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
The new financing will help expand the Ohio-based company’s GeneSight technology, which is based on the study of variations in human genes and how that influences individual responses to certain medications.
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Assurex said more than 9,000 clinicians have used GeneSight to help make treatment decisions for more than 125,000 patients across the country. In the past several months, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Medicare have added GeneSight’s multi-gene psychotropic test to their coverage plans.
Two new investors for Assurex Health are American Financial Group and Cross Creek Advisors, according to Virginia Drosos, president and CEO.
Existing investors Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Sequoia Capital, Claremont Creek Ventures, Mayo Clinic, CincyTech, Allos Ventures and Danmar Capital.
The need is particularly pronounced for behavioral and mental health disorders, according to Assurex, citing NIH figures that show one in four adults experience mental illness in a given year. It also is estimated that 490 million prescriptions are written each year for antidepressants and antipsychotics, with a $140 billion economic consequence.
