‘Hospital-at-home’ startup expands into clinical trials
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A UK technology firm which helps healthcare services provide “hospitals at home” is expanding into clinical trials through the acquisition of a German rival.
Huma Therapeutics, which enables clinicians to monitor their patients remotely, has bought clinical-trials specialist Alcedis at a valuation of about £20 million (S$32.4 million).
Under the tie-up, Huma would use its technology to monitor clinical-trial participants. This would reduce the number of in-person visits to hospitals and clinics, and enable the patients to provide a greater amount of data at more regular intervals.
Dan Vahdat, chief executive and founder of Huma, said the technology would give trial participants a “sense of security and comfort”, as they would be continuously monitored via their smartphones. They would be called in if doctors spot a worrying change in their data, such as their blood oxygen level or heart rate.
The company’s software helps doctors keep tabs on their patents through a mobile app, and it also uses wearable devices to gather information on heart rate and oxygen saturation.
Its platform is already being used across England and Wales to monitor people with Covid, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as well as those recovering from surgery. The UK’s National Health Service aims to provide an extra 2,500 “virtual ward beds” to increase hospital capacity, as health services reach a crisis point.
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Founded in 2011 as Medopad, Huma grew as Covid accelerated a shift towards digital health. During the pandemic, it created an app to remotely monitor patients with suspected or confirmed Covid-19. By tracking heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen, it could spot patients at risk of deterioration and helped reduce hospital admissions by a third, said the company.
While the firm lost £27.5 million on a revenue of £5.3 million in 2021, it raised US$130 million in an investment round led by the corporate-venture funds of Bayer and Hitachi in the same year.
It expects a revenue of £15 million for 2022. BLOOMBERG
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