Medly Therapeutics (Medly) is a digital health company transforming care for cardiac and chronic disease patients. Developed based on technology invented at the University Health Network in concert with its Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC) and Centre for Digital Therapeutics as well as the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, the Medly program is a first of its kind in Canada. The program uses the Medly management algorithm developed by heart failure clinicians to rapidly assess and triage patients, and includes access to a digital health team for patients. Medly demonstrates unrivaled clinical validation with a 50% reduction in heart failure related hospitalizations and a 6-fold increase in patient capacity, as well as validation for its platform technology via 27 peer-reviewed publications.
UNMET NEED
50% of heart failure patients are re-hospitalized within 6 months of admission, leading to significant health system costs. There is a current shortage of health care staff specializing in cardiac care, e.g.(nurses, cardiologists and primary care physicians who are trained in heart failure management. Consequently, clinicians are forced to manage care by events instead of outcomes, a costly approach.
INNOVATION
Medly Therapeutics (Medly) combines gold standard protocols integrated with a clinician developed expert system, directing the patient through an automated front (e.g. smart phone app or digital portal) that transforms event-based care to proactively managing patients to their baseline. Medly demonstrates unrivaled clinical validation with a 50% reduction in heart failure related hospitalizations and a 6-fold increase in patient capacity. Medly's platform has gained validation in over 27 peer-reviewed publications.
APPLICATION/UTILITIES
The Medly platform is being prescribed by Canadian clinicians to manage their heart failure patients on a daily basis and boasts an 80% adherence rate in patients over 70 years of age. Medly is changing the face of chronic disease management with additional applications including co-morbidities such as diabetes, COPD and mental health/depression.
INVESTMENT & OBJECTIVES
$3M USD Series Seed; $10M pre-money valuation with $2.4M committed.
Investment would be targeted to:
· Port the platform to the cloud for commercial scale
· Continue with FDA application (breakthrough designation received 11/22)
· Execute2-3 US pilots (pilot sites in discussion
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
1) Evidence-based (27 peer reviewed publications; competition has only 1)
2) (Validated) trade-secret data and algorithms - usually takes years take years to validate
3) Successful early adoption in Canada
4) Breakthrough designation from FDA
5) Health Canada approval for medical device
MARKET SIZE
US and Canada TAM $22B
IP PORTFOLIO
Extensive trade secret portfolio; additional patents being filed on remote medication titration and multiple chronic condition management
CURRENT READINESS LEVEL
TRL 8 – Porting to the commercial cloud platform (completion by Q3 2023 this year).
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Kirk Fergusson, MBA
With more than 30 years’ experience in government, healthcare and technology organizations, Kirk is a versatile business leader with broad functional skills in business development/sales, operations management and marketing/corporate communications, as well as a strong track record of building effective organizations, including a handful of start-ups. Prior to joining UHN, Kirk was leading Canadian public sector business development activities for Gen Digital (formerly Secure Key Technologies) in Toronto. In terms of healthcare experience, Kirk has worked for several health-related organizations including the CADTH, Canada Health Infoway, Capita Health, mdBriefCase and CloudMD. He possesses a BA from the University of Waterloo as well as an MBA from Western University.
SCIENTIFIC FOUNDER(S)
Dr. Heather Ross - Head Division of Cardiology at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto, Site Lead Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research
Dr. Joseph Cafazzo - Executive Director, Biomedical Engineering, the Centre for Digital Therapeutics, and Healthcare Human Factors (HHF) at UHN, and Wolfond Chair in Digital Health
