Carrum Health is collaborating with University of Chicago Medicine to bring value-based breast cancer treatment and care to self-insured employers and their employees in the Midwest. Eligible patients can now receive treatment for non-metastatic breast cancer at UChicago Medicine, including surgery, reconstruction, chemotherapy, and radiation, for up to two years through Carrum Health’s fixed-price comprehensive cancer care bundle.
UChicago Medicine, one of the nation’s leading academic health systems, offers a regional network of care throughout the Chicagoland area. Based in the city’s historic Hyde Park neighborhood, UChicago Medicine is one of only two National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in Illinois and was ranked No. 14 in the country for cancer care in the latest edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals list. UChicago Medicine is seeking regulatory approval to build a new, freestanding cancer hospital, which would bring its basic and translational cancer research together with inpatient and outpatient oncology care.
According to the Business Group on Health, cancer is now the top driver of employer healthcare costs, having overtaken musculoskeletal conditions. Experts predict the situation will worsen as the impact of care delayed during the pandemic is fully realized. Although oncology accounts for only 1% of claims volumes, it makes up 15% of overall employer healthcare spend.
“Cancer will dominate employee benefits in 2023. It’s become what mental health was in 2021 – a topic that benefit managers can no longer ignore,” said Sach Jain, CEO and founder of Carrum Health.
NEA has closed on $6.2 billion across an early stage and a growth stage fund, bringing its assets under management to over $25 billion by the end of 2022.
Both funds will be invested across technology and healthcare sectors, including enterprise and consumer technology, digital health and life sciences. Investing will span incubation and seed-stage investments to the growth of market leaders.
“We are deeply grateful to our Limited Partners for the trust they have placed in our team, and excited to have raised the largest pool of capital in NEA’s history at a time of great uncertainty, but also tremendous opportunity,” said Scott Sandell, Managing General Partner, NEA. “Our own performance over decades strongly affirms the importance of both peaks and troughs in a healthy ecosystem for innovation and company building, and we look forward to supporting founders at every stage with both the capital and the cycle-tested expertise NEA has always brought to bear in tough times.”
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Iaso Therapeutics, a Michigan State University startup focused on technologies for next-generation vaccines, has closed the first tranche of the company’s $1.25 million Series Seed Preferred round of financing.
The funding proceeds will be used to advance Iaso’s customizable drug delivery and vaccine platform based on bacteriophage mQβ to boost immune system responses against weakly immunogenic antigens.
Michigan Rise Pre-Seed III Fund, Red Cedar Ventures Pre-Seed Fund and Michigan-based angel investors took part in the funding round. Iaso Therapeutics is also eligible to receive up to $125,000 in funding from the Michigan Small Business Development Center and Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Emerging Technology Fund.
“Iaso Therapeutics has successfully supported the early development of our mQβ vaccine platform with NSF and NIH SBIR grants,” said Robert Forgey, President and CEO of Iaso Therapeutics. “This funding will accelerate the development of this technology as we begin our journey.”
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Five women physician entrepreneurs have been selected as startup pitch finalists for the 1st American Medical Women’s Association Healthcare Innovation Challenge. At 1 pm ET on Saturday, March 25th, as part of AMWA’s 108th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, the five finalists will compete for the grand prize of $10,000 cash plus a one-year membership in MATTER.health. Finalists will also be awarded an AMWAxCEL Fellowship, which offers additional expert support for their start-up endeavor.
They are:
- Dr. Eun Jung Choi, CEO and Founder of Spave Science
- Dr. Paula Doyle, CEO and Founder of EndoGlow
- Dr. Ruchi Gupta, Founder of Yobee Care
- Dr. Maggie Koos, Founder of Koos Medical Innovations
- Dr. Grace Lin, CEO of HeartScreen Health
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Photo: pixelliebe, Getty Images
