Cota, an oncology-centric data analytics company, has closed an $18 million growth equity round.
Boston Millennia Partners was among the new investors in Cota, which builds technology to measure patient outcomes from specific treatment protocols. (The name stands for Cancer Outcomes Tracking and Analysis.)
Behavioral Health, Interoperability and eConsent: Meeting the Demands of CMS Final Rule Compliance
In a webinar on April 16 at 1pm ET, Aneesh Chopra will moderate a discussion with executives from DocuSign, Velatura, and behavioral health providers on eConsent, health information exchange and compliance with the CMS Final Rule on interoperability.
The New York City-based startup’s core product is Cota Nodal Address System, a patented platform that helps oncologists categorize and sort molecular genetic data. The technology presents relevant information up front for physicians to, say, avoid chemotherapy in patients who would not benefit from it, as MedCity News reported in 2014.
“Cota has the potential to make a significant impact on not only the cost of quality healthcare but also on how patients are matched to the best standards of care and evolving protocols,” A. Dana Callow Jr., of Boston Millennia Partners, said in a press release from his investment firm. “[Founder and Executive Chairman] Dr. Andrew Pecora and his team are leaders in this arena and the company’s Cota Nodal Address approach is ‘state of the art,'” added Callow, who is joining the startup’s board of directors.
So far, Cota has commented only through the new investor. “The company has made great progress on an exciting mission. We have enjoyed strong revenue growth and rapid adoption of our products across multiple markets,” CEO Eric Schultz said in the Boston Millennia Partners release.
This is the second major investment in Cota this year. In May, pharma manufacturers Celgene and Novartis joined molecular information company Foundation Medicine and consulting firm HealthScape Advisors to make unspecified investments.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Around the same time, Cota named former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator — and longtime patient safety researcher — Dr. Donald M. Berwick to its board.
MedCity News has reached out to the informatics company for more information and will update this story should we receive a response.
Photo: Flickr user Howard Lake
