An organ transplant startup founded by Baltimore developer and investor Scott Plank sold to a California public health care company last month.
MediGO tracks organ shipments in real time, recording any changes in temperature, pressure and humidity that could affect the organ’s viability. CareDx (NASDAQ: CDNA) acquired MediGO to expand its digital health and pre-transplant offerings to shorten wait times, specifically targeting its mobile apps to track organs in transit. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Combining MediGO's network, real-time data, and predictive analytics with CareDx's digital health platform capabilities, we are better poised to deliver next-generation data-driven patient solutions," Plank, MediGO's founder, said in a press release. "With MediGO's people and technology solutions and CareDx, we expect to make a greater impact through this collaboration."
MediGO did not respond to requests for further comment on the deal.
MediGO is a sister company of Plank’s unmanned aircraft company MissionGO. MissionGO uses MediGO software to monitor organs in transit on drones as they journey to a hospital. MissionGO has recently pivoted away from health care to focus more on infrastructure inspection because federal regulations restrict drone use to within the line of sight of a pilot. The restriction makes it almost impossible for a drone carrying a human heart to make a long trip to a rural area or other location outside of a city unless the pilot is driving in a car behind them.
“The challenge is that until the rules change you can't run [far] enough to make it worthwhile to the healthcare system,” Scott Plank told the Baltimore Business Journal in October.
MissionGO has been successful in the infrastructure space, recently earning a $50 million contract with a California utility company to help prevent wildfires. Plank founded MissionGO in 2019 and established MediGO one year later in 2020. The Baltimore Business Journal awarded the two companies an Inno Fire Award in 2022.
CareDx has acquired several health technology companies in the last several years. In 2021, the company acquired app developer Transplant Hero and the European transplant surveillance software company BFS Molecular.
"By leveraging our combined strengths, we will drive operational efficiencies, accelerate innovation, and deliver even greater value to the transplant ecosystem by addressing the serious organ transplant shortage,” Reg Seeto, CEO and president of CareDx, said in a press release.
Plank has sold several of his holdings over the past three years including the Belvedere Square retail development in North Baltimore, Lighthouse Point Marina in Canton, and his Locust Point condo.
