The recent acquisition of Flatiron by Roche raises two important questions:

First, given that (as Andrew Matzkin of Health Advances observed) the Flatiron transaction is “putting smiles on a lot of faces,” what other emerging oncology clinical data companies might soon be in play? And second, more fundamentally, what are the implications of the rise of these types of companies – for both pharma and for healthcare?

Two prominent emerging oncology clinical data startups are Cota (like Flatiron, based in New York City) and Tempus, located in Chicago.

All three oncology clinical data companies are built around the premise that the care received by cancer patients is far more haphazard than it should be, and that there’s too much available data for care to be administered in such an impressionistic fashion. Treatment choices can make a real difference, and opportunities to learn continuously from the experiences of colleagues and patients are often squandered.

Read the full article about the rising power of oncology data companies by David Shaywitz at Forbes.