An Orlando-based company that allows people to participate in groundbreaking medical trials from home just hauled in tens of millions of dollars in funding.
ObvioHealth USA Inc. raised $31 million in its latest fundraising round, with $18.5 million originating from a partial Series B round, the company announced July 1. The investment allows ObvioHealth to invest further in its virtual clinical trial platform. It also will enable dozens of new hires this year, founder and CEO Ivan Jarry told Orlando Business Journal.
ObvioHealth’s platform enables companies to recruit for and carry out virtual clinical trials in the health care industry. The company's smartphone app lets trial participants take part from their own home, and ObvioHealth claims virtual clinical trials on its platform result in recruitment that is four times faster than normal, 60% fewer participant dropouts and 48% higher adherence to the trial medication.
The round was led by Italian healthcare IT and software company Dedalus Group and Novotech Health Holdings, a biotech contract research organization with its U.S. headquarters in Boston. Singapore-based venture fund SPRIM Global Investments and Singapore-based private investment firm AT Capital Group also participated in the round.
Dedalus and Novotech’s investments in ObvioHealth are expected to grant ObvioHealth a stronger presence in the European and Asia-Pacific markets. Plus, the money will fund improvements to the IT capabilities of the platform and new hires across the company, with a focus on new employees in the Asian market. The company employs 57 people and expects to hire between 35-50 by the end of the year, Jarry said.
As a result of the investment, Dedalus will work with ObvioHealth and enable researchers to work with hospitals to identify European patient subpopulations for research while abiding by privacy and data safety regulations.
“This will result in huge benefits for patients, healthcare professionals and for the clinical research industry at large,” Dedalus founder Giorgio Moretti said in a prepared statement. “ObvioHealth is already helping to bring new drugs and devices to market by making clinical trials faster and safer.”
In addition, ObvioHealth will become the preferred virtual clinical trial provider for Novotech, which conducts clinical research trials for biotech companies in the Asia-Pacific market. The platform helps address the demand among clients for “faster and more cost-efficient solutions” in virtual trials, Novotech CEO John Moller said in a prepared statement.
The round brings the company’s total fundraising to $51 million since its founding in 2015. Venture capital deals are important because they fund companies as they scale up while also providing business expertise and industry connections. The growth of tech businesses is important for Central Florida, as those firms can add local jobs, create innovative solutions for businesses and make it easier for other new companies to form in the future.
Venture capital funding of health care companies hit a record high in the first quarter. Investors pumped $31.6 billion into companies in the health care industry that quarter, including an all-time high of $9 billion into digital health care firms, New York-based business analysis firm CB Insights reported.
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