San Francisco-based Doximity says it has acquired “one of the best datasets in medicine” with its $63-million USD ($87-million CAD) purchase of Montréal-based healthtech startup Pathway Medical.
“There’s a growing need for clinical tools that combine trusted evidence with the speed and adaptability of AI.”
Jon Hershon
Pathway
The United States (US) telehealth firm is looking to incorporate Pathway’s medical artificial intelligence (AI) technology and clinical dataset into its existing platform for healthcare professionals.
The acquisition closed July 29, Doximity said, for $26 million USD in cash and up to $37 million in additional equity grants. All six of Pathway’s employees, half of whom are physicians, are joining Doximity’s team, the company told BetaKit.
Doximity CEO Jeff Tangney told CNBC that his team found “the best company at answering physicians’ questions using AI,” and didn’t have to go to Silicon Valley to find it.
Pathway has developed an AI-powered search engine of vetted medical information to help healthcare professionals diagnose and treat patients. According to its editorial policy, everything in Pathway’s database must be available in an English-language, peer-reviewed journal online that is produced by a professional or otherwise recognized medical group. The content is then manually reviewed and assigned an “evidence grade.” The company claims it has more than 1 million registered users across 10,000 health facilities.
“There’s a growing need for clinical tools that combine trusted evidence with the speed and adaptability of AI,” Pathway CEO Jon Hershon said in a statement.
Founded in 2018, the startup raised a total of $6.3 million USD ($8.6 million CAD) through pre-seed and seed rounds from investors including Yamaha Motor Ventures, Desjardins Venture Capital, Amplify Capital, BoxOne Ventures, and Panache Ventures.
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Doximity said the acquisition will help expand its clinical reference capabilities, thanks largely to Pathway’s broad range of peer-reviewed source data. A joint product with Pathway’s tech is in beta testing with thousands of doctors, Tangney said.
Doximity spokesperson Amanda Cox wrote in an email that the company will gain ownership of Pathway’s clinical dataset, but “individual user search data will remain private and compliant.”
Doximity launched in 2010 as a “LinkedIn for doctors” that allowed industry-compliant patient data sharing between healthcare institutions. The company, which says it serves over 80 percent of US physicians, now also offers networking tools, medical news and research, schedule management and administration, and virtual patient visits. After an initial public offering in 2021, Doximity now has a market capitalization of $12.2 billion USD.
Medical AI tools have grown in popularity in recent years as many startups seek to alleviate the administrative burden for strained healthcare systems nationwide. Federally funded non-profit organization Canada Health Infoway launched the AI Scribe Program in June to give physicians AI-powered tools to document patient visits and reduce paperwork. The initiative is procuring the technology from Canadian companies such as Well Health and MEDFAR.
Feature image courtesy Doximity.