Telehealth Firm Ro Launches an AI Research Lab to Turn Patient Data Into Drug Insights

Telehealth firm Ro announced on Friday that it is launching a healthcare research lab powered by artificial intelligence to study patient outcomes and potentially offer insights to drugmakers.

The Ro Research Lab will use AI to analyze data generated through Ro's digital health platform, which has served millions of patients. That data spans clinical care, pharmacy records, lab results and patient-reported outcomes such as side effects, sleep, heart rate and weight.

Chief Executive Zach Reitano said increased data could provide insights for insurers weighing coverage of expensive medications, allow drugmakers to identify which patients benefit from a specific treatment, and improve health outcomes for individuals on its platform.

Ro is currently in talks with drug manufacturers on partnering with the research unit, though no deals have been signed. This year Ro entered a research collaboration with drugmaker Amgen to study access to obesity treatments.

The company plans to publish early findings and submit those that hold up for peer review. Planned research subjects include heart attacks, food noise, mental health and grocery purchases.

Ro is a direct-to-patient healthcare company and offers cash-pay access to Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy through the companies' direct pharmacy channels, placing it at the center of the fast-growing market for weight-loss drugs.

The lab marks a shift for Ro from selling care to selling insight — turning the data its patients generate into research that drugmakers and insurers are willing to pay for.

Sources

• SRN News (Reuters) — Ro launches healthcare research unit, plans to offer data to drugmakers