Infectious disease management business ILÚM Health Solutions, a Merck subsidiary launched on the cusp of the annual HIMSS conference this year, has acquired Teqqa for an undisclosed amount.
The Wyoming-based company founded by CEO Dr. Dan Peterson, an epidemiologist and veteran of the Centers for Disease Control, served as a development partner for ILÚM.
Merck’s Healthcare Services and Solutions division created ILÚM as a way to address the dual need for hospitals to have a better way to combat infectious diseases such as sepsis and pneumonia, which are frequently acquired while patients are in and the hospital, and antibiotic stewardship.
An estimated 23,000 deaths can be tied to antibiotic-resistance every year, according to data from the CDC’s website.
Teqqa developed an analytics tool to help physicians assess what antibiotic to prescribe to patients. The clinical decision support tool is designed to help doctors provide a more personalized approach to these assessments by using data found in electronic health records since prescribing drugs to treat infections tends to involve several factors.
Additionally, Teqqa’s software provides an assessment of a healthcare facility’s current antimicrobial usage, the effectiveness of these programs, and helps providers re-focus their program as needed. It provides reports of antibiotics usage by individual physicians and gives a better understanding of the direct and indirect costs of antibiotics for each hospital, such as the number of days patients spend in the ICU, the total length of stay in the hospital and re-admissions.
Teqqa’s acquisition also marks a milestone for Penn Medicine — the company marked its first healthcare startup equity investment.
In a 2014 interview, Peterson noted he had previously founded Cereplex where he developed Web-based applications, including ones for hospital-acquired infection control and antibiotic management. Cereplex was acquired by Premier in 2006.
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