COTA, Inc., an oncology real-world data and analytics company, announced its latest financing by an investment fund managed by Deerfield Management, a healthcare investment firm. Deerfield invests across the life science, medical device, diagnostic, digital health, and health service industries at every stage of evolution. In conjunction, COTA announced it has raised additional capital from existing investors. The company will use this new funding to further expand its real-world data platform and services in order to drive more efficient and inclusive drug development in oncology.
“COTA is an early leader in the oncology real-world data space helping to revolutionize the use of data to improve care and outcomes for cancer patients,” said Leslie Henshaw, Partner at Deerfield Management. “We believe in their mission to bring clarity to cancer care for all patients and are proud to support the expansion of their work.”
Miruna Sasu, COTA’s President and CEO, shared how these resources will help improve care and treatment for people facing cancer: “We’ve worked tirelessly to expand the volume and types of data that we offer both our pharma and provider collaborators. Our latest financing and product and services growth will help ensure that COTA’s already robust, diverse, and representative dataset will continue to expand and deliver meaningful insights that can positively impact outcomes for those living with cancer.”
Perella Weinberg Partners LP served as exclusive financial advisor and Goodwin Procter LLP served as legal advisor to COTA on this transaction. Katten Muchin Rosenman acted as legal advisor to Deerfield Management on this transaction.
Building on this latest round of financing, COTA is also announcing the expansion of its data platform to cover nearly 2 million cancer patient lives throughout the U.S. — quadrupling data access in just two years and now including emerging types of data such as full genomic data.
The company is also launching new services aimed at supporting life sciences companies with drug submissions to the Food and Drug Association (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA). These new services include integrating real-world data in research and development, enabling health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), and informing market-access strategies.
“We all learned about the value of real-world data as part of the expedited vaccine approval process during the pandemic,” said Venkat Sethuraman, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Global Biometrics and Data Science at Bristol Myers Squibb. “At Bristol Myers Squibb, we are incredibly excited about leveraging the power of real-world data as part of our efforts to continually innovate and address patient needs with urgency. Having the opportunity to work with external experts and data scientists who can provide clarity, education, and support to effectively leverage real-world data is an invaluable part of our efforts to accelerate smart cancer drug development for patients.”
COTA is also now integrating emerging types of data in their platform, including clinicogenomics, social determinants of health, and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). The company also recently launched their Vantage product, which gives subscribers real-time access to broad, curated datasets that are proactively refreshed with new data elements and records.
COTA had a strong growth year from a business perspective as well, accruing its highest annual revenue to date. The company also doubled down on their efforts to support diversity, equity, and inclusion through focused collaborations with organizations such as Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida. Together, COTA and Miami Cancer Institute have begun exploring how different demographics lead to disparities that impact cancer patient outcomes and, in turn, how best to proactively address these disparities for the benefit of patients.
To learn more about COTA’s growth in oncology real-world data and research services, please visit cotahealthcare.com.
Founded by oncologists, COTA is committed to creating a precise, patient-first approach to cancer care through the use of real-world data. The company leverages technology-supported human data abstraction methods to make sense of complex, fragmented patient data from the real world. Offering the highest quality oncology real-world data from leading academic and community-based cancer centers and an advanced analytics platform, COTA partners with leading life sciences companies, providers, and payers to ensure that everyone touched by cancer has a clear path to the right care. To learn more about COTA and how to fast-track improvements in cancer care and treatment with comprehensive and diverse real-world data and analytics, visit cotahealthcare.com.
