Earlier this week Oncology Analytics, a technology company focused on helping organizations apply and manage benefits for cancer care, announced that it closed a $21 million Series B funding round. The new round was led by Oak HC/FT with participation from McKesson Ventures, Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners and Sandbox Advantage. 

The company said the new money will help it expand its oncology benefits management capabilities and invest in data analytics, data science and innovative digital health technology. 

Why it matters

According to the National Cancer Institute, each year 1,735,350 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed the United States and 609,640 people will die from cancer. Breast, lung and prostate cancer are among the most common. 

The company claims to help providers and payers get more insights about certain conditions, and help patients to come up with treatment plans. 

"Oncology is a complex therapeutic area and likely to increase in complexity given the rise in combination therapies and new medicines,” Dave Schulte, managing director, McKesson Ventures, said in a statement. “Oncology Analytics is well positioned to deliver providers with tools and information critical to stay abreast of the most appropriate and personalized treatment plans available.”

What's the trend

Oncology is a growing space in digital health, with data analysis in particular becoming a big target area. In March Precision Health AI launched a new platform called Eureka Health Oncology, which uses EMR data to provide practical AI applications for real oncology use cases. 

One of the biggest players in the space is Flatiron Health — an oncology-specific EHR platform employed by both community oncology practices and academic medical centers in the US — which was acquired by Pharma giant Roche last February. The company also developed a line of software products that employ real-world data from those records for cancer research and insights.