Thyme Care, the leading value-based cancer care enabler, has officially raised a sum worth $95 million. According to certain reports, the development saw Thyme Care welcoming a new investor in Concord Health Partners, with further participation coming from all existing investors, including CVS Health® Ventures, Town Hall Ventures, a16z Bio + Health, AlleyCorp, Echo Health Ventures, Frist Cressey Ventures, and Foresite Capital. Markedly enough, out of the total amount, $55 million came in equity financing, whereas the remaining $40 million is expected to be provided in debt financing by the Bank of California. Talk about how the company will use the newly-raised funds, it will invest them to grow and scale the business by expanding into new markets, supporting its existing oncology, primary care, and health plan partnerships, and deepening its clinical value-based care model. To understand the significance of this funding, though, we must begin by acknowledging that our cancer care ecosystem is steadily nearing a financial breaking point, as drug costs alone have now come to account for up to 70% of the total care expenses. Not just that, several cancer therapies are now also costing upwards of $200,000 per year. These financial challenges join the already-prevalent socio-economic barriers that seem to affect a huge chunk of population, thus causing them to go through gaps in support, financial toxicity, and a lack of coordination between visits.
But how will Thyme Care address such a grave problem? Well, the answer to that resides in a suite of services, including its 24/7 specialized cancer care navigation services, robust technology and data insights, and provider-led therapeutic interventions. You see, these services, each in their own unique way, enable a more seamless patient experience and drive sustainability across the ecosystem. More on the same would reveal the company’s navigation services, including interventions to minimize acute care utilization and increase access to social services, have achieved a reduction worth $594 in total costs per month for navigated patients, as compared to a control group.
Another detail worth a mention here is rooted in Thyme Care’s Medicare Advantage and commercial payer agreements, as well as its collaborations in CMS’s Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM), that make it possible for the company to assume financial responsibility in the context of oncology populations. This, in turn, reduces the total cost of care, and at the same time, improves outcomes and experience.
“Thyme Care’s ability to enhance patient outcomes and reduce the total cost of care is directly aligned with our mission at Concord to support best-in-class companies with solutions that improve quality, increase access, and reduce cost of care,” said James Olsen, founder and managing partner at Concord Health Partners. “Their provider-led interventions targeting ballooning oncologic drug spend and acute care utilization highlight their unique approach to system-wide affordability, and their deep partnerships in cancer care mark their proven success.”
Among other details, we must mention that, in order to reduce oncologic drug spend across the cancer care system, Thyme Care has operationalized provider-led pharmacy intervention techniques, including drug waste minimization protocols, clinically equivalent drug substitutions, and more. Not just that, in last year alone, the company has also rapidly expanded its Thyme Care Oncology Partner (TCOP) partnerships to spearhead value-based cancer care. Operating as an extension of the practice, Thyme Care would deploy virtual care delivery services and analytic capabilities so to reduce administrative burden, unlock practice efficiency, and enable success in new payment arrangements.
“Our latest funding is a testament to the dedication and expertise of our incredible team, whose relentless efforts drive our mission to transform the cancer care experience forward,” said Robin Shah, co-founder and chief executive officer at Thyme Care. “We are profoundly grateful for the unwavering support and collaboration of investors, providers, and payer partners, whose commitment makes Thyme Care’s unique, provider-centered approach possible.
