Earlier this month, UK-based Halma announced the acquisition of AI company PeriGen for €48 million.
PeriGen will continue to focus on a clinical decision support tool for perinatal care. This tool has been designed to help clinicians interpret complex data. It allows for central monitoring and patient census, as well as bedside monitoring.
Founded in 2000, PeriGen is a veteran developer of software products focused on the delivery process that provide clinicians with more patient data based on algorithms and analytics. The company’s flagship product is its Early Warning System and Clinical Decision Support, which monitors patients in labour. Powered by AI, it is able to detect potential problems that need to be addressed in a timely manner.
The merger will give PeriGen the ability to access “additional recourses” to expand its technology in the US and beyond.
Matthew Sappern, CEO of PeriGen, explained in a statement how the last few years have been pivotal for PeriGen in demonstrating how the alignment of interests of a management team, investors and, most importantly, customers and their patients has been crucial to the development of the technology.
“Years of financial stability and product discipline have brought us to a point where we can make a large scale impact in North America and soon beyond as part of Halma plc. We are excited about what the future holds for our business,” concluded Mr. Sappern.
Currently, the United States has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates of any developed country. According to the CDC, the country’s infant mortality rate was 5.7 deaths per 1,000 births in 2018. This figure is even higher for Black babies with a death rate of 10.8 per 1,000 births, while Native American and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander babies are also disproportionately affected by this phenomenon.
PeriGen and other technologists are actively developing solutions to eradicate this issue through digital health.
This recent merger and acquisition is not the first large-scale deal for PeriGen. The company had previously entered into an agreement with Qualcomm Life in 2018 to allow the latter to license and sell PeriWatch Vigilance. In the same year, Renown Health introduced PeriGen’s PeriWatch labour monitoring and analysis software into its delivery unit.
Perigen has made some big-name deals in the past. In 2018 the company inked a deal with Qualcomm Life, which let the latter license and sell PeriWatch Vigilance. That same year Renown Health brought PeriGen’s PeriWatch labor surveillance and analysis software into its child birthing unit.
Although PeriGen is considered a pioneer in the field of childbirth, there is some competition in the market. Last year, Dorsta, a maternity care management company, secured $5.2 million in Series A funding to develop its solution. In January this year, Sera Prognostics partnered with Anthem and its subsidiary HealthCore to conduct a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of Sera’s PreTRM test in reducing risk, improving neonatal outcomes and reducing overall healthcare costs.