SamaCare secures $17M series B investment to scale specialty drug prior authorization platform
This round was led by new investor Questa Capital, with participation from existing investors Vive Collective and South Park Commons.
With this new investment, SamaCare aims to accelerate the development of its one-stop patient access platform, designed to save healthcare organizations time and resources while ensuring that patients receive therapy sooner.
The company says it has proven its ability to streamline patient access to treatments by tackling the frustrating experience of prior authorizations—a traditionally manual, paper-heavy process that health plans often require before a patient can use a specific drug.
The lack of commercial plan standards to regulate prior authorization requirements and processes results in a fragmented, inconsistent, and often analog system. This, it says, can delay or prevent treatment for patients, creating unnecessary burdens for providers, patients, health plans, and other stakeholders.
Reducing burdens that harm patient care
“By digitizing the current manual paper-and-fax-heavy process, our platform reduces the administrative burdens that harm patient care, drive healthcare providers crazy, and raise costs for the system,” said Syam Palakurthy, founder and CEO of SamaCare.
“The support of Questa Capital and our current investors will help us accelerate much-needed change to a cumbersome system."
SamaCare will use the investment to build the comprehensive Script-to-Therapy Operating System, enhancing the platform's capabilities to better serve patients, providers, and pharmaceutical companies in several ways, including expanding beyond prior authorizations for a seamless digital experience to create a single connected post-prescription workflow.
Dr Aabed Meer, partner at Questa Capital, said, “As a physician, I've navigated various administrative processes to secure vital medications for patients. Our team’s extensive experience with investments within the specialty pharmaceutical ecosystem has deepened our appreciation for SamaCare’s pivotal role in helping patients start and stay on their treatment regimens, ultimately leading to better outcomes.”
It can also enhance collaboration among healthcare teams within and between provider offices, use AI to cut administrative delays and tedious paperwork and create a data insights engine for a faster and more effective Script-to-Therapy journey.
A time of medical miracles
“We live in a time of medical miracles, but administrative and financial barriers to care are becoming more painful and time-consuming, impacting patients during their most challenging moments,” Palakurthy added.
“The Script-to-Therapy Operating System aims to address these obstacles and provide treatments at the moment of need.”
Vive Collective CEO, Cheryl Cheng has been working with Palakurthy and his team since leading their Series A.
She said: “The complex, targeted, and expensive nature of novel therapeutics creates friction in the system. SamaCare is a prime application of software and data intelligence that delivers clear ROI and benefit to all parties in the network,” said Cheng. “Vive Collective remains committed to supporting SamaCare's journey to improve patients' access to essential medications.”
SamaCare partners with more than 15,000 providers and has helped some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Pharmaceutical clients partnering with SamaCare have seen abandonment rates drop by 24%, time-to-approval cut by over 84%, and a reduction in unnecessary administrative prior authorization denials by up to 42%, the company says.
