Ciox Health, an Alpharetta-based healthtech company with a focus on clinical data exchange, has raised $30 million in a funding round from new investor Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and private equity firm New Mountain Capital.
Ciox will use the funding to enhance its core capability of providing clinical data liquidity to reduce health care costs and improve the quality of patient outcomes. The company will focus on developing its Digital Patient Clone heath data repository that brings de-identified patient data to researchers on-demand and at scale. The investment will also help Ciox's providers contribute to clinical research and development.
“This year, our No. 1 priority is to execute for our existing customers who recognized early on the distinguished way Ciox attacks the problem of sourcing and providing, high-quality, traceable and fit-for-purpose, real world data," Jeff Gartland, president of provider solutions at Ciox, told Atlanta Inno. "Simultaneously, we are scaling our first-in-class software platform and the required infrastructure around it to handle the market’s increase demand."
The new relationship between Ciox and Merck Global Health Innovation Fund will allow the company to reduce health care costs and support the company's mission.
"Merck GHIF has a proven track record investing in companies that improve patient therapies through digital health," Gartland said. "Partnering with them will ensure that our rich data and analytics capabilities and technology can be applied to help to drive clinical research and introduce new life-saving treatments and improved patient outcomes."
Through its DPC platform, Ciox can stitch together the digital fragments of a patient’s health journey from different clinical information systems, then normalize the data so researchers can use it.
“Ciox brings a unique approach to accessing real world data at scale, and we expect them to partner intimately with companies within the GHI oncology digital health portfolio," David M. Rubin, managing director of Merck GHIF, said in a statement. "Ultimately, Ciox’s technology will advance clinical research and accelerate the launch of new treatments.”
CIOX Health was created by the 2016 merger of four industry companies – HealthPort, IOD, Care Communications and ECS – that were all identified and acquired by New Mountain on an exclusive, proprietary basis between December 2014 and September 2015.
"As evidenced by the investment, we are focused on how we can help clients and partners unlock the value in real-world data. In the right scenarios, real-world evidence can be a faster, less expensive and in some cases more useful alternative to traditional evidence generation for obtaining drug and device approvals," Gartland said. "We are in discussions with several additional strategic partners to expand our ability to play our part in advancing the ball in RWE."
