ALEXANDRIA, Virginia; April 25, 2023: In Q2 2023, Epidaurus Health’s proposed Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Project was awarded $1M in non-dilutive funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Epidaurus Health’s approved NSF/SBIR project title is “A Blockchain Ecosystem for Encrypting Real World Data and Developing Artificial Intelligence to Optimize Pharmacy Prior Authorization.”
The approved NSF funds for this project will be dedicated to expanding Epidaurus Health’s product and engineering team to move forward on remaining stages of development of Epidaurus’ patented flagship product, Amphitheater. Amphitheater is a Web3 platform designed to securely automate fulfillment of clinical criteria between payers and private physician practices, resolving prior authorizations for high cost pharmaceuticals with reliable clinical accuracy as well as optimal efficiency.
“With the SBIR grant funds, we will further develop our blockchain solution and expand our customer engagements, which will securely digitize the prior authorization process,” said Michio Aida, Chief Technology Officer at Epidaurus Health. Amphitheater’s patented infrastructure leverages federated networks to both trace and verify provenance of available clinical evidence and patient records. By design, Amphitheater’s federated architecture protects patient privacy and patient data ownership, while still allowing for advanced analytics, contingent on patient consent, afforded through use of smart contracts and federated machine learning algorithms.
“The team at Epidaurus Health looks forward to jumpstarting our seed round of fundraising with this non-dilutive cash funding. This program will amplify our speed to market and accelerate development, while strengthening our customer positioning to revolutionize the prior authorization process in healthcare, a $184 billion annual cost driver in healthcare,” said Mark Stephenson, Co-Founder and CEO. In addition to expanding Epidaurus Health’s in-house talent in artificial intelligence and machine learning for clinical informatics, NSF funds will be committed to refining product launch and commercialization plans. The target for Amphitheater’s full commercial launch is now set for early 2025, and Epidaurus Health is actively working with various customers on engagements.
Inquiries regarding early partnership opportunities for testing prior authorizations on Amphitheater can be directed to Daina Andries, Head of Product, at daina@epidaurus.health. Investment inquiries can be directed to Mark Stephenson, CEO, at mark@epidaurus.health.