Healthcare Data Firm BHE Secures $78M Funding to Expand Its Real-World Evidence Platform

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on May 15, 2019, healthcare data company BHE completed an equity financing round of $78 million. The round was led by Silversmith Capital Partners and Leerink Transformation Partners. The funds will be used to accelerate the development of its real-world evidence analytics platform, IHD, and to expand the company’s market presence.

BHE, a medical data company headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, was established in 1996. The company is dedicated to leveraging diverse healthcare data sources, including electronic health records (EHRs), to conduct cutting-edge research and develop healthcare interventions and treatment strategies aimed at reducing medical costs and improving care quality.

BHE’s flagship platform, IHD, is a SaaS-based real-world evidence platform. It enables users to rapidly analyze more than 20 different real-world databases, including medical claims, laboratory test results, electronic health records, and hospital data.

IHD offers the advantages of rapid analysis, flexibility, and intuitiveness, enabling users without programming expertise to conduct in-depth analyses of real-world data. Research analyses that previously took weeks or months to complete can now be accomplished within days or even hours using this platform. Since its launch, the platform has gained favor among scientific researchers, epidemiologists, physicians, statisticians, and software engineers, becoming a standard analytical tool for healthcare companies and other research organizations. Currently, it is being utilized by more than 20 life sciences companies and research institutions.

Real-world data (RWD) refers to data derived from sources outside of traditional clinical trials, including electronic medical records, health records, and clinical assessment records provided by healthcare practitioners; behavioral data from patients’ social networks and patient outcomes research data; marketing and research and development data provided by pharmaceutical companies; and reimbursement data held by health insurance agencies. Collectively, these data constitute real-world data. Clinical study evidence regarding the use of medical products and their potential benefits or risks, derived by researchers through the analysis of such data, is referred to as real-world evidence (RWE).

For a long time, before drugs are marketed, researchers have conducted clinical trials in specific populations through random sampling to ensure the safety and efficacy of the drugs. However, after a drug is launched on the market, there may be discrepancies between its actual therapeutic effects and the results obtained from clinical trials. Collecting and analyzing real-world data can provide an authentic and comprehensive reflection of how the drug performs in practical applications, thereby helping researchers make better-informed decisions.

Jordan Menzin, Chief Technology Officer at BHE, stated, “With advances in big data and computer technologies, coupled with the emphasis placed on real-world evidence by life sciences companies and the FDA, this field has seen rapid growth in recent years. This financing will enable us to continuously innovate our products and leverage real-world evidence to develop novel therapeutic solutions for patients.”

Silversmith Capital Partners, established in 2015 and headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, is a private equity firm. The firm is dedicated to investing in startups in the fields of medical technology and information services.

Leerink Transformation Partners is a private equity firm focused on making equity investments in startups within the medical technology and services sectors.

(Compiled by Jiao Yanli)