Health tech firm Elligo raises $135M from Cerner, other investors

Elligo Health Research, a company that uses electronic health records to facilitate patient access to clinical trials, has raised $135 million in a series E funding round.

“We will accelerate revolutionizing the way clinical trials are conducted, from pre-identification of patients through healthcare, to study enrollment, conduct and study data delivery,” CEO John Potthoff, Elligo said in a news release Sept. 24.

Led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and Ally Bridge Group, the funding round also included Cerner, Syneos Health, Shumway Capital and others.

Cerner partnered with Elligo in 2020 to expand clinical research resources for rural and community health providers and made an investment in the company in February. In July, Cerner reported that its operating earnings were down 66%, leading it to implement a cost-cutting campaign.

The financing will allow the Elligo to invest more in its technology platform and to use data to further accelerate clinical research, while addressing challenges in the clinical trial industry such as maintaining diversity, equity, and inclusion among research participants, the company said in a news release.

Elligo will use part of the capital to acquire ClinEdge, a research practice management and clinical services company, which would create the world’s largest healthcare-enabling research organization, according to Elligo.

Elligo has access to more than 150 million patients and combines proprietary data, technology and services to support clinical trial designs and make them more accessible to patients.

Through engaging physicians and patients, Elligo aims to assist in the development of new pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and diagnostic products.

“The clinical trials industry is experiencing a new phase of disruption,” Melissa Daniels, Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital managing director, said in a news release. “There’s an opportunity to use technology, data analytics and services to eliminate long-standing trial conduct pitfalls and bottlenecks that primarily impact patients.”