Dive Brief:
- NantHealth has acquired NaviNet, a communications platform between physicians and insurers, for an undisclosed amount.
- The IT company sees the NaviNet platform as a tool to increase communication between the two groups at the point of care - such as connecting patients to clinical trials based on their cancer's molecular profile.
- NaviNet was previously owned by three health plans and a software company.
Dive Insight:
NantHealth is also developing an operating system that selects clinical trials for patients based on their cancer's molecular profile and provides an immediate coverage decision from the insurer. NantHealth's CEO Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong said his company is creating a knowledge engine that combines big data with personalized medicine to treat tumors based on their molecular expression instead of where they occur in the body.
Although Soon-Shiong had planned to take NantHealth public by the end of 2015, he postponed the initial public offering because the current market has been under tough scrutiny by the public and lawmakers calling for more rigorous drug pricing regulation. In October, NantHealth invested $50 million in Precision Biologics, which develops cancer vaccines and companion diagnostics.
"The reason we've acquired NaviNet is not what it currently is but what it will be. Here's an opportunity to really have this bidirectional communication tool," said Soon-Shiong.
NaviNet, which originally started as a network to provide physicians direct insurance information about patients, has expanded into population health where, for example, insurers prompt providers about upcoming screening tests.