Doctors are usually advised not to abruptly switch or stop diabetes medications before surgery. However, the American Society of Anesthesiologists recommended that patients stop taking GLP-1 agonists, new diabetes and weight loss drugs, before surgery due to potential complications. Dr. David Klonoff, an endocrinologist, was concerned about this decision as there was little evidence to support it. He decided to join the medical advisory board of Atropos Health, a startup that uses real-world patient data to help doctors make informed decisions based on what is happening outside of clinical trials.
Atropos Health utilizes 200 million patient records to provide statistical analyses in a matter of days, helping doctors determine the best treatment for individual patients. The startup recently announced a $33 million Series B round led by Valtruis, with a valuation of around $250 million. Atropos takes a different approach from other health data companies by using a federated data model to run separate queries on individual data sets rather than combining all data into one massive dataset, addressing the challenges of sharing data across different hospitals.
The company’s name is inspired by Greek mythology and the concept of fate, with the goal of generating evidence to help clinicians improve outcomes and extend people’s lives. Atropos CEO Brigham Hyde realized the limitations of aggregating healthcare data for research and founded the company to provide retrospective studies based on real patient responses without compromising privacy. The software generates analyses based on individual data sources and combines the results in a meta-analysis, allowing doctors and researchers to access valuable insights without moving patient data around.
Atropos has conducted over 10,000 retrospective studies, including an analysis with Dr. Klonoff on the risks of complications for patients on GLP-1 agonists undergoing surgery. A recent study published in Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism found no evidence to support stopping the drugs before surgery based on data from over 13,000 patients. While Dr. Klonoff was convinced by the results, some experts, like anesthesiologist Girish Joshi, have raised concerns about the study’s design and sample size.
Despite potential limitations, Atropos aims to continue adding new patient data and medications to generate new evidence and improve decision-making in healthcare. The startup’s innovative approach to using real-world patient data for retrospective analyses has the potential to revolutionize how doctors make decisions and improve patient outcomes. As the company receives additional funding and support from investors, it is poised to make a significant impact in the healthcare industry by providing valuable insights for medical professionals and researchers alike.
