Tech startup Aetion has added US$19 million to their real-world evidence platform Series B, bringing their round to US$82 million. Aetion believes Series B can give an earlier and more expansive look into treatments for COVID-19. While scientists turned to real-world data early in the pandemic, results have been mixed—the most notable example being the flawed studies of hydroxychloroquine. Speaking on the challenges of using real-world data during the pandemic, Yale cardiologist and health outcomes researcher Harlan Krumholz said such analyses had “awesome potential” but scientists still need to discriminate between good analyses and bad ones. “To date, there are few examples [where] these types of studies have tipped the balance,” Krumholz, who directs Yale’s center for outcomes research and evaluation, said via email
Aetion is currently planning to use real world data and Series B to help vaccine makers with post-approval monitoring to ensure vaccine safety. ”You can imagine that these vaccines are new, and anytime something is new there is no precedent and data could be collected in different ways, depending on the health system, depending on who’s administering the vaccine, as an example, where you are geographically. And all of that has implications on the real world data.” Aetion CEO Carolyn Magill said. Find out more about Aetion and Series B here.
(Source: Jason Mast, Endpoints News, August 26, 2020)
