Health2047 has raised $27.2 million in follow-on funding from the American Medical Association as it prepares to spin off seven programs. In a phone interview, the new Health2047 CEO Lawrence Cohen outlined the company’s strategy following the group’s first spinoff last year of health data network business Akiri, previously known as Switch.
Although he declined to get into details, Cohen explained that the funding would lay the groundwork for spinoffs across four areas:
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.
- Data liquidity — breaking down silos of health data;
- Chronic disease reduction;
- Improving physician productivity; and
- Value-based care
In order to drive down some of the waste in the $3 trillion annual healthcare industry spend, Cohen sees scope to use technology as other industries have done to change payment models such as Google’s monetization of searches and Uber with the sharing economy. Much like tech drove innovation that spurred a shift in payment models, Health2047 wants to work towards that level of change in healthcare. The group is also interested in applying technology towards reducing the cost of unmanaged chronic conditions, which frequently results in more acute care, which accounts for the escalating cost of healthcare.
Health2047 plans to the use the follow-on funding to broaden its network of strategic partners and accelerate spin-outs.
The group also added CFO Gary Cookhorn, who served in a similar role at Fortress Investment Group, along with three managing directors: Daphne Li, former director of strategy at Apple and member of Bain & Company’s Business Acceleration Group; Lúcia Soares, former vice president of Health Technology Program Strategy and Delivery at Johnson & Johnson; and Piers Nash, former IBM Global Solutions Consultant in genomics and healthcare and member of the founding team at the Genomic Data Commons, according to a company statement.
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.
Cohen, who joined Health2047 in October last year, replacing Doug Given, served as CEO of VIA Pharmaceuticals, a gene therapy company he took public in 2007. Madrigal Pharmaceutical acquired the business in 2011. More recently he worked for Kadmon Holdings, a publicly-traded biotechnology company focused on developing therapies for immune and fibrotic diseases.
Health2047 made its debut at the JP Morgan Healthcare conference two years ago. At the time, then-CEO Given described the business as one that originates early-stage ideas, co-develops products for rapidly growing companies, and partners with established companies to optimize their business entries in the healthcare economy.
Photo: JamesBrey, Getty Images
