startups

Startup raises $6M to make it easier to fill specialty scripts – MedCity News


HelpAround co-founders Shlomi Aflalo and Yishai Knobel.

A doctor writes a prescription for a specialty drug. A pharmacist fills it. Between those two steps, patients must navigate several hoops, including several phone calls, filling out forms, and sometimes a blood test or a drug test.

HelpAround, a Bethesda, Maryland-based startup, is looking to make this process less painful.

“As a company, we are helping patients navigate the maze called specialty drugs,” said Yishai Knobel, co-founder and CEO of HelpAround. “It’s all about complicated protocols and how to help patients prevail.”

The company raised $6 million in funding on Tuesday, led by contract research organization IQVIA and with participation from previous investor Windham Ventures. As part of the deal, an executive with IQVIA will join HelpAround’s board.

The problem the company is trying to solve is a large and costly one. Roughly 35 percent of patients with a specialty drug prescription discontinue treatment before the first refill.

“Pharmaceutical companies are losing a lot of money. Even though they are putting out a ton of resources for patients to navigate and get the drug, it’s not readily available,” Knobel said. “There are lots of phone calls, forms to fill out, signatures… it’s not very digitized.”

HelpAround’s platform lets patients fill out this information digitally, and allows them to compare drug prices and chat with a healthcare provider. It also sends them reminders throughout the process, such as completing needed lab work.

IQVIA found another use for this technology in clinical trial support. The idea is still very similar in helping patients navigate complicated protocols.

“They brought the vision. We actually were not working in clinical trials at the time,” Knobel said.

The company’s technology could also detect when patients aren’t following clinical trial protocols, allowing site coordinators and providers to engage with patients, Gregg Dearhammer, IQVIA’s senior vice president of data sciences, safety and regulatory, said in a news release.

HelpAround first got its start in 2013 working with patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and kidney disease. Now, the startup will use the new funding to push further into the specialty drug space.

 

Photo credit: HelpAround

 



READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.