Digital therapeutics company Biofourmis brings software to the pharmaceutical realm and then brings remote monitoring technology into patients’ homes. It now has $300 million to ramp up efforts on both fronts.
this D series wheel The financing announced Tuesday was led by General Atlantic.
Boston-based Biofourmis uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze patient physiological data. When used with medication, the software suggests dose changes. Novartis was Biofourmis’ first pharmaceutical industry partner, forming an alliance in 2019 to pair blockbuster heart failure drug Entresto with FDA-approved Biofourmis platform Biovitals. Patients who were discharged from the hospital and prescribed Novartis’ heart drug also received prescriptions for Biofourmis’ digital therapy. Using sensors on the wearable device, the digital technology captures the information, which is then used to optimize the dose of Novartis drugs. The goal is to reduce readmission rates in patients with heart failure who are frequently hospitalized.
Biovitals platform is also Biofourmis’ remote monitoring technology designed to provide hospital-grade care for patients at homeSimilar to the use of Novartis’ Entresto, Biofourmis technology monitors physiological signals to provide insights into a patient’s disease progression across dozens of indications. Insights from this virtual care technology, called Care@Home, allow clinicians to intervene before problems escalate.Earlier this year, the company Launch of Biofourmis Carea care management service that aims to combine medication management and remote care in a product designed for chronic conditions.
Biofourmis plans to use the new financing to expand its virtual care offering, including expanding Biofourmis Care to patients with complex chronic conditions.The company believes its technology meets the need to collect data Value-based care, where reimbursement for drugs or devices is linked to measurable patient outcomes. Biofourmis Quote Research According to McKinsey’s calculations, $265 billion worth of care for Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries could shift from traditional clinical settings to homes over the next three years.
The new funding will also be used to fund new clinical trials. Biofourmis CEO Kuldeep Singh Rajput said in an email that the evidence generation strategy covers Care@Home and digital therapeutics.
“For Care@Home, we will focus on generating more clinical, operational and economic/ROI evidence across the entire care process – acute, post-acute and virtual specialty care,” he wrote. “For therapy, we will advance our own pipeline of digital therapy and combination therapy.”
Biofourmis currently has five combination therapy partnerships with drug candidates in cardiology, oncology and pain. Cardiac indications the company is investigating include heart failure, atrial fibrillation, hyperlipidemia and coronary artery disease. Biofourmis enters oncology with acquisition of Gaido Health in 2020, a remote monitoring technology developed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals for cancer patients. In cancer, Biofourmis is focused on monitoring patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as well as those receiving CAR T, a type of cell therapy that can cause dangerous side effects, Rajput said. In pain, Biofourmis is developing technologies to treat acute and chronic pain.
Biofourmis is also developing a digital therapy for heart failure. Similar to the use of Biofourmis technology under the Novartis partnership, this new digital therapy captures patient physiological data for analysis. But instead of sending dosing recommendations to clinicians, this new digital therapy sends those recommendations directly to patients.when Biofourmis closes $100 million Series C round in 2020, Rajput said, this digital therapy for heart failure will be ready for FDA submission in 2021. However, Covid-19 has caused delays in clinical trials. Rajput now says he expects pivotal clinical trials to be completed this quarter. After that, Biofourmis plans to seek FDA approval for the technology.
Biofourmis said the new funding round, which is now valued at $1.3 billion, has propelled the company into unicorn territory. Since its inception in 2015, the company said it has raised $445 million. Other participants in the latest round include CVS Health as well as an early investor in the company. Biofourmis has also hired a healthcare industry veteran to strengthen its board. Omar Ishrak, former CEO of Medtronic, will join the board as chairman.
Photo by Bio Formis
