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BFD Expert Voices - Health Tech Deals

BFD Expert Voices

As value-based care models continue to gain traction, executives and investors are looking for ways to apply its principles to cancer care, Aaron and Erin write.

Why it matters: With cancer costs rising, the $600 billion self-insured employer market is looking for cost containment tools.

Driving the news: Thyme Care, a Nashville-based VBC oncology management platform, this week raised $60 million in Series B funding co-led by Town Hall Ventures and Foresite Capital.

Proceeds will help Thyme expand into the self-insured employer market next year, and continue to scale after inking a partnership with a large unnamed national health plan, Thyme Care CEO Robin Shah tells Axios.

At $83 million total raised, Thyme has taken in enough capital to approach "the path to profitability," but is prioritizing growth over that milestone, Shah adds.

What they're saying: Investors in Thyme Care and the leaders of other cancer startups say employers are increasingly looking to reduce costs and turning to the tools they offer as a result.

"Employers are realizing the important of taking care of their employees, which ultimately helps with recruitment and retention," says Town Hall Ventures general partner David Whelan.

Adam Pellegrini, CEO of cancer care navigation startup Jasper Health, says in his recent discussions with investors, "Every single one of them has said they have a thesis around oncology and it is a priority pillar for their investment strategy."

How it works: Thyme's platform connects cancer patients with a care management team via phone, video calls and text messages.

Members get access to symptom management and urgent care triage, as well as social determinants of health resources, like access to transportation, financial aid, behavioral health, nutrition and housing.

Thyme works with commercial health plans like AmeriHealth New Jersey; Medicare Advantage health plans like Clover Health; the American Oncology Network; and several unnamed at-risk primary care groups.

Meanwhile, Jasper's platform offers a smart planner for oncology appointments, medications, and to-dos along with symptom and mood tracking and tools to activate family and friend support.

Jasper's employer clients include Memorial Sloan Kettering, UnitedHealth-owned Optum, Cigna-owned Evernorth, and consultant Employer Direct Healthcare.

The intrigue: Jasper last February raised $25 million in Series A funds and "may be back fundraising before next year," as it seeks to power a new remote patient monitoring suite, Pellegrini says.

What's next: Pellegrini says Jasper is working with the Biden administration's Cancer Moonshot team to add reimbursement codes to its services.

1 big thing: Value-based cancer care courts employers

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Private equity-backed Waystar, a health care payments vendor, will explore an IPO that could value the business at $8 billion, Axios' Claire Rychlewski has confirmed.

Why it's the BFD: If successful, Waystar would represent the first health tech IPO since the public markets frenzy of 2021.

What's happening:  EQT and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board-backed Waystar tapped Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to advise on the listing.

The IPO could come later this year or early next year — but both timing and valuation are subject to market conditions.

Catch up fast: Waystar was formed in 2017 through Bain Capital's reportedly $750 million merger of Navicure and ZirMed.

Bain sold a majority stake in Waystar to EQT and CPPIB in 2019, in a deal that valued the business at $2.7 billion. Bain retained a minority stake.

Under EQT and CPPIB, Waystar gained significant scale with a $1.3 billion-plus acquisition of competitor eSolutions from Francisco Partners.

How it works: Serving more than 1 million health care providers and facilitating more than 2.5 billion transactions annually, Waystar's software helps hospital systems and doctors' offices with bill collection.

CPPIB, EQT, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan declined to comment. Waystar did not respond to a request for comment.

2. The BFD: Payments vendor Waystar eyes $8B IPO

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Looking for a deal story? Search the Axios Pro Deals Tracker beta.

• Tausight, a Burlington, Mass.-based developer of data security tools for personal health information, raised $6m in unlabeled funding led by Polaris Capital with participation from Flare Capital Partners and .406 Ventures. https://axios.link/3shyu7X

• Longevo, a Miami-based provider of wellness tools focused on Latin American markets, raised $5.5m in unlabeled funding led by Grupo Valora with participation from Andrés Moreno, Amalia and Manuela Sierra, Gregg Throgmartin and Karim Alibhai. https://axios.link/3YKCBFF

• LighthouseAI, a Los Angeles-based provider of pharmaceutical supply chain compliance tools, raised $2.25m in seed funding led by Healthy Ventures with participation from Bertelsmann Next. https://axios.link/3YL2Trw

• Cressey & Co. acquired HealthDrive, a Framingham, Mass.-based care provider for long-term patients, from Bain Capital Double Impact. www.healthdrive.com

3. Deals o' the day

• Mark Michalski left a post as principal health care BD at Amazon to become CEO of Ascertain. Gregg Fergus became executive chair. https://axios.link/44kzmWH 

• Carina Edwards, the former CEO of Quil Health, became CEO of Kipu Health. www.kipuhealth.com

• Rita Sharma left a role as VP of health care product management at Salesforce to become chief product officer at Pager. https://axios.link/3KMhhtB

• Haleigh Tebben left a role as chief commercial officer of Brightline to become chief revenue officer at Uprise Health. www.uprisehealth.com

• Jean Olive left a role as CTO at Best Buy Health to become CIO at John Hancock. www.johnhancock.com

• Maya Ghosn Bichara became a board member at O7 Therapy. www.o7therapy.com

• Brian Groves left a post as a VP at Meta to become chief marketing officer at Nestlé Health Science. https://axios.link/45EphFm 

4. It's Personnel

🚑 As obesity drug market grows, companies juggle patients and payers — STAT

🚲 Peloton launches new approach to B2B service — MobiHealth News

🏥 Cracks deepen for America's biggest hospital landlord — WSJ

✅ A reality check on that Blue Shield of California announcement — Drug Channels

5. Your daily dose

Illustration of a weekly pill dispenser box with a newspaper called "daily dose" in each compartment.

🐬🦈  Aaron is back from vacation where he went snorkeling along one of the world's largest barrier reefs off of Grace Bay and Providenciales — and saw a dolphin and a shark!

🙏 Thanks for reading, and thanks to editor Claire Rychlewski and copy editor Mickey Meece. Please ask your colleagues, friends, and family to sign up.

August 22, 2023

1 big thing: Value-based cancer care courts employers