Cancer treatment is complex, with therapies often delivering different outcomes and provoking different reactions. Regular monitoring of a patient’s health is an essential element of treatment, helping to detect problems such as neutropenia, a common side effect of chemotherapy, which reduces immune system function and makes cancer patients highly vulnerable to serious infections. It is estimated that such complications can lead to one in four patients being hospitalised, reduce the effectiveness of treatments and cost healthcare systems in Europe and the US $15 billion every year.
In that context, the healthtech company Entia has closed a successful €18.7 million Series A financing round. The round was led by BGF and Parkwalk plus other existing investors, with the capital earmarked for the UK commercial rollout and US regulatory approval of the company’s flagship innovation, Liberty – one of the most comprehensive remote patient monitoring solution for people undergoing cancer treatment.
Working at the frontiers of remote patient monitoring and predictive analytics, Entia, which was founded in 2014, has combined novel at-home blood testing technology and digital solutions to deliver personalised insights into cancer patients’ journeys through treatment.
“Providing more care for people outside of hospital is not only beneficial for patients but is highly advantageous for healthcare providers,” said Dr Toby Basey-Fisher, CEO and Founder of Entia. “Such an approach allows us to move routine health assessments out of healthcare centres and also drives a more preventative model of healthcare where problems are identified and addressed early on. This is about enhancing patient care by keeping people on treatment longer, reducing unplanned hospitalisations and ultimately improving survival outcomes.”
Currently, the majority of monitoring is done through hospital out-patient appointments, which can be time-consuming and costly to travel to for patients and also resource intensive for healthcare providers. With Liberty, Entia aims to remove some of these pressures and support healthcare providers by arming them with real-time insights that help keep treatment on track and alert them to potential complications before they can affect a patient’s quality of life. Entia’s solution is unique in being able to offer symptom and vitals tracking alongside full blood count analysis that includes monitoring of neutropenia – one of the most common and costly side effects of cancer treatment.
Joanna Smart, portfolio lead at BGF commented: “We have been consistently impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm of the Entia team to significantly improve remote monitoring solutions for cancer patients. This combined with their scientific acumen has created a uniquely user-friendly means of monitoring vital health information with the dual power to transform quality of life and drive efficiencies for healthcare providers. We look forward to supporting the business on the next phase of their journey.”
Neil Cameron, Investment Director at Parkwalk Advisors, added: “Our investment in Entia offers a profound opportunity to positively impact the lives of people with cancer. Cancer patient numbers are increasing and we need to embed and capitalise on innovative technologies to ensure our healthcare systems have the resources and capacity to give everyone that needs it the best chance of beating this terrible disease.”
