WELL Health and HEALWELL AI Expand Strategic Alliance Agreement to Develop an AI-Enhanced Clinical Trials Program to Accelerate Innovation and Improve Patient Outcomes

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Oct 29, 2024, 07:01 ET

WELL Health and HEALWELL AI announce the expansion of their multi-year agreement that allows WELL and HEALWELL to launch and manage clinical trial sites at WELL Health clinic locations across Canada. Leveraging HEALWELL's Contract Research Organization (CRO) capabilities alongside WELL Health's network of clinics across Canada, positions the partnership as a formidable player in AI-driven clinical trials, and opens up new revenue streams.
This partnership allows HEALWELL AI to offer an end-to-end vertically integrated service, inclusive of patient identification and recruitment, clinical trial architecture and execution and clinical research data analysis.
Providing clinical trial sites within WELL Health clinics transforms these clinics into hubs of innovation, improves accessibility and directly benefits patients by bringing experimental treatments to local sites.
Launching and managing clinical trial sites at WELL Health's clinic locations across Canada would be a powerful strategic initiative. This could allow WELL Health and HEALWELL to capitalize on their combined strengths in healthcare infrastructure and AI technology, potentially transforming the landscape for clinical research.

VANCOUVER, BC and TORONTO, Oct. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - WELL Health Technologies Corp. (TSX: WELL) (OTCQX: WHTCF) ("WELL"), a digital health company focused on tech-enabling healthcare providers, and HEALWELL AI Inc. (TSX: AIDX, OTCQX: HWAIF) ("HEALWELL"), a healthcare technology company focused on AI and data science for preventative care, are jointly pleased to announce the expansion of their multi-year strategic alliance agreement that allows WELL and HEALWELL to launch and manage clinical trial sites at WELL clinic locations across Canada. Leveraging the country's largest network of primary and specialty care clinics, with over 180 clinics and thousands of healthcare practitioners, HEALWELL and WELL will collaborate to expand clinical trial access to more patients than ever before. By combining their strengths in healthcare infrastructure and AI technology, WELL and HEALWELL aim to transform the clinical research landscape.

This partnership allows HEALWELL AI to offer an end-to-end vertically integrated service, from patient recruitment to trial execution and data analysis for clinical research. By including WELL Health Diagnostic Centres (WHDC) and its robust specialty care patient roster, including cardiology, radiology, sleep medicine and endocrinology, the partnership can leverage valuable patient data to enhance research, particularly in cardiovascular disease and its co-morbidities, where pharmaceutical interest is significant. For WELL, hosting trials within its clinics will transform them into hubs of innovation, directly benefitting patients by bringing experimental treatments to local sites and improving accessibility. Leveraging HEALWELL's Contract Research Organization (CRO) capabilities alongside WELL's clinic infrastructure positions the partnership as a formidable player in AI-driven clinical trials, fostering the potential for new revenue.

Dr. Michael Frankel, Chief Medical Officer of WELL, commented, "Launching and managing clinical trial sites at WELL's clinic locations across Canada is a powerful and transformational strategic initiative. This initiative will allow WELL and HEALWELL AI to capitalize on their combined strengths in healthcare infrastructure and AI technology, potentially transforming the landscape for clinical research."

Dr. Alexander Dobranowski, CEO of HEALWELL, commented, "Patient identification and recruitment for clinical trials has become an increasingly complex challenge in the global healthcare and life science sectors. Success hinges not only on identifying patients but also on effectively recruiting them and managing their participation – steps that lead to improved outcomes for patients, practitioners and the healthcare system as a whole. Through our established late stage CRO, Canadian Phase Onward, HEALWELL has already made significant strides in accelerating the recruitment process, but the growing network of WELL clinics is an opportunity for us to execute our plans at scale. Ultimately, this service will be a benefit to doctors, healthcare practitioners and patients alike while reducing the cost of clinical trials and shortening their timelines."

Some strategic benefits of the partnership include:

Increased Access to Clinical Trials: With WELL's extensive and growing network of over 180 primary and specialty clinics nationwide, patients across diverse Canadian regions will have more convenient access to clinical trials. This expansive reach supports recruitment for a wide array of clinical trial programs, from common therapeutic areas to highly specialized conditions. HEALWELL focuses on recruiting niche patient populations, including those with rare diseases, specific genetic profiles, or unique demographic backgrounds. This focus improves the feasibility and inclusivity of trials, enabling sponsors to explore treatments for unmet medical needs. As a result, trials can achieve greater patient participation and gather more representative data, ultimately strengthening the value and relevance of clinical research findings.
Enhanced Efficiency with AI-Driven Solutions: HEALWELL's focus on advanced AI and data science is expected to streamline trial processes, from patient recruitment to data analysis. AI-driven tools also help identify eligible participants, predict outcomes, and reduce trial duration by automating data collection and analysis, making the process more efficient and cost-effective.
Strengthened Position in the Healthcare Innovation Market: By establishing a unique niche in AI-enhanced clinical trials, WELL and HEALWELL position themselves as leaders in the emerging space of digital healthcare solutions for research. These efforts will enhance partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and other research institutions seeking to leverage AI for trial optimizations, contributing to financial growth and technological development.
Data-Driven Insights for Future Healthcare Innovations: Operating clinical trials at scale will generate valuable real-world data that can inform future healthcare innovations. These insights can support HEALWELL AI's goal to enhance disease detection and preventative care tools, creating a cycle of continuous improvement that benefits both clinical outcomes and business objectives.

Hamed Shahbazi
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
WELL Health Technologies Corp.

Dr. Alexander Dobranowski
Chief Executive Officer
HEALWELL AI Inc.

About WELL Health Technologies Corp.

WELL's mission is to tech-enable healthcare providers. We do this by developing the best technologies, services, and support available, which ensures healthcare providers are empowered to positively impact patient outcomes. WELL's comprehensive healthcare and digital platform includes extensive front and back-office management software applications that help physicians run and secure their practices. WELL's solutions enable more than 37,000 healthcare providers between the US and Canada and power the largest owned and operated healthcare ecosystem in Canada with more than 180 clinics supporting primary care, specialized care, and diagnostic services. In the United States WELL's solutions are focused on specialized markets such as the gastrointestinal market, women's health, primary care, and mental health. WELL is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "WELL" and on the OTC Exchange under the symbol "WHTCF". To learn more about WELL, please visit: www.well.company.

About HEALWELL AI

HEALWELL is a healthcare technology company focused on AI and data science for preventative care. Its mission is to improve healthcare and save lives through early identification and detection of disease. Using its own proprietary technology, the Company is developing and commercializing advanced clinical decision support systems that can help healthcare providers detect rare and chronic diseases, improve efficiency of their practice and ultimately help improve patient health outcomes. HEALWELL is executing a strategy centered around developing and acquiring technology and clinical sciences capabilities that complement the Company's road map. HEALWELL is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") under the symbol "AIDX" and on the OTC Exchange under the symbol "HWAIF". To learn more about HEALWELL, please visit https://healwell.ai/

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release, constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward looking statements" (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, including the potential benefits of utilizing WELL's clinic network for HEALWELL's clinical trials. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon management's perceptions of technical abilities and assumed benefits, while considered reasonable by WELL and HEALWELL as of the date of such statements, are outside of WELL and HEALWELL's control and are inherently subject to business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies which could result in the forward-looking statements ultimately being entirely or partially incorrect or untrue. Forward looking statements contained in this press release are based on various assumptions, including, but not limited to the ability to identify and recruit patients, obtaining all required government consents to conduct trials at such clinic locations, and obtaining pharmaceutical sponsor consents for the trials to be conducted at WELL's clinics.

Known and unknown risk factors, many of which are beyond the control of WELL and HEALWELL, could cause the actual benefits and integration plans to differ materially from the results implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include not obtaining any required government or research ethic board consents, not successfully identifying candidate patients for clinical trials, not being able to recruit interested physicians in assisting with such clinical trials, and the other risks discussed under the section entitled "Risk Factors" in WELL and HEALWELL's most recent annual information form, which is available under the companies' respective SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. The risk factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect WELL and HEALWELL and the reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual benefits could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. WELL and HEALWELL disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. All of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements.

SOURCE WELL Health Technologies Corp.