Roche to Buy Oncology Data Startup Flatiron Health in $1.9 Billion Deal
The Swiss pharma giant is now all set to acquire Flatiron Health in a $1.9 billion deal that will that will hand out Roche the ownership of the cancer software and real-world evidence of the Google Ventures-backed Flatiron.
“This is an important step in our personalised healthcare strategy for Roche, as we believe that regulatory-grade real-world evidence is a key ingredient to accelerate the development of, and access to, new cancer treatments,” Roche CEO Daniel O’Day said in a press release. “As a leading technology company in oncology, Flatiron Health is best positioned to provide the technology and data analytics infrastructure needed not only for Roche, but for oncology research and development efforts across the entire industry.”
New York-based Flatiron Health was founded in 2012 by former Google employees Nat Turner, CEO, and Zach Weinberg, president and COO. Privately held Flatiron, which has grown to almost 500 employees, has built a large network of community oncology practices and academic medical centers across the United States. In 2016, it was profiled as one of Healthcare Informatics’ “Up and Comer” startup companies. In addition, the company has also developed a suite
of software products that employ real-world data from these records to uncover cancer research and care insights.“Roche has been a tremendous partner to us over the past two years and shares our vision for building a learning healthcare platform in oncology ultimately designed to improve the lives of cancer patients,” Flatiron Health cofounder and CEO Nat Turner said in a statement. “This important milestone will allow us to increase our investments in our provider-facing technology and services platform, as well as our evidence-generation platform, which will remain available to the entire healthcare industry.”
