Highlander Health aims to modernize clinical trials, founders say
New financing organization Highlander Health aims to modernize drug trials and patient care, according to founders Amy Abernethy and Brad Hirsch.
The Dallas, Texas-headquartered firm combines Highlander Health Institute – which will provide grants to health systems to modernize and streamline evidence generation – and Highlander Health Partners, a health care-focused investment organization.
According to Highlander’s website, the investment arm will focus on opportunities in the $50 million to $100 million range that gives it either a controlling interest or an influential minority position in the target organization.
Additionally, the company will create so-called “clinician-led learning labs” that will develop and test solutions for clinical research. According to Highlander, US charitable organization Lyda Hill Philanthropies will also play a role in funding the learning laboratories.
According to Hirsch, “There is an enormous opportunity to improve clinical research and care, particularly at their intersection.
“Our investments, and our shoulder-to-shoulder collaboration with portfolio company management will catalyze new businesses, capabilities, and opportunities among new and traditional players alike,” he said.
Hirsch’s previous experience includes executive roles at EHR-to-EDC specialist Flatiron Health, clinical trial tech firm SignalPath, and Alphabet’s health research wing, Verily Life Sciences.
Abernethy, who was principal deputy commissioner at the US Food and Drug Administration, chief medical officer at Verily, and a professor at Duke University, emphasized the need to combine recent advances to make drug trials more efficient.
“During the last decade, companies have innovated elements of the vision, but the approaches have been siloed.
“It’s time to build connected solutions that work across care settings, that streamline not only a treatment’s evaluation and approval but also its widespread adoption – all with an eye on what patients and providers need to flourish in an age of biological breakthroughs,” she said.
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