Cancer start-up in deal with international telehealth giant
LOS ANGELES: A start-up that created a virtual coach to help cancer patients navigate their diagnosis and treatment journey has formed a joint venture with $US6.5 billion ($8.6 billion) telehealth giant Teladoc Health.
CancerAid was founded in 2015 by chief executive Dr Raghav Murali-Ganesh and Dr Nikhil Pooviah from the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse cancer hospital in Sydney. It offers patients information specific to their illness, a treatment plan, a digital journal, a database for their medical records and access to a global community of people fighting the disease, as well as information and news from clinicians, researchers and charities.
CancerAid sells its services to 45 enterprises including Aon, Lendlease and MinterEllison, who give staff going through cancer, or who are caring for someone with the disease, access to the program.
It is joining forces with Teladoc in Australia and New Zealand to create a new product named Cancer Companion, which is specific for insurers.
Revenue from Cancer Companion will be split evenly, and the companies have already signed up New Zealand-based insurer Fidelity Life.
Cancer Companion will offer insurers’ customers a support program, combining CancerAid’s coach program and Teladoc’s medical support services, which let users access psychosocial support and get second opinions from oncologists on the platform.
The partnership initially covers Australia and New Zealand.
Dr Murali-Ganesh said CancerAid had just signed its first two enterprise customers in the US.
‘‘One of the reasons why we’ve chosen to work with the team at Teladoc is that they’re a leading virtual care company, and we want to transition our commercial success in Australia into the US,’’ he said. ‘‘In the last 12 to 18 months, we’ve grown revenue by 300 per cent year-on-year.’’
Teladoc Australasia director Jamie Vickers said the company had 90 million members globally, and had been in the Australian market for 12 years. It already works with CancerAid customers MLC and MetLife in Australia.
‘‘We operate a broad virtual care model helping people with physical and psychological conditions. About 10 per cent of our cases are cancer,’’ Mr Vickers said.
‘‘We’ve seen tremendous data from CancerAid about how they’re able to help people return to work. What they do around coaching, support and advocacy is different to what we do. Putting the two together in a partnership model made sense.
‘‘It’s got applicability everywhere in the world. Cancer treatment doesn’t vary greatly by region.’’
Teladoc’s clinical results show its users’ treatment plans are modified in 15 per cent of cancer cases. A study run by CancerAid alongside AIA Australia over a two-year period, with an additional year of follow-ups, showed a significantly higher return to work rate of cancer patients using the coaching program (30.4 per cent), compared to those in a control group (17.6 per cent). Those who returned to work also did so earlier. The study showed the program improved a patient’s likelihood of returning to work by 73 per cent.
As well as securing the partnership, CancerAid has kicked off an $US8 million ($11.4 million) capital raise, which values it at about $50 million.