Whyze Health founder Frances Abeton was told her daughter could have a future of “pain and disability” after she experienced a potentially life-altering accident at the age of 13. Frances and Frank Sullivan found a path for a much better outcome through research; now their company digitises the recruitment process of patients for clinical trials
Having access to the medical research world, Frances was able to find other ways to get a much better health outcome for her daughter. This was the driving force behind the creation of Whyze Health; to provide patients with easy-to-access information surrounding research and clinical trials. Bridging the gaps between healthcare professionals and their patients.
Whyze Health is raising a €2.75 million seed funding round to aid its expansion into the US market this year and to further international markets, including Britain, in 2024.
Whyze Health digitises the recruitment process of patients for clinical trials. Based in Blackrock, Co Dublin, the company was founded by Frances Abeton and Frank Sullivan in 2021 and has seven staff.
“We’re building a network where patients are connected with physicians and their data is anonymised and shared with the research world,” Abeton told the Business Post.
Abeton’s interest in the area grew out of her own experience helping her daughter deal with medical issues.
“She had an accident when she was 13 and I was working in Icon Clinical Research at the time. After five heavy medical procedures, she was told there was a high probability that she would need walking aids for the rest of her life and live in pain.”
“As I was connected with the research world, I was able to find other ways to get a much better health outcome for her. Now she’s 19, fully healthy, walking, running, boxing, and enjoying life.”
The difference between the outlook her daughter initially faced and Abeton’s ability to find a better solution made her think there had to be a better option for all patients and physicians to access the benefits of the latest medical research. Sullivan is one of Ireland’s top oncologists and he shared Abeton’s desire to find better outcomes for patients.
“We felt there was a lack of awareness around clinical research. It’s not easy for patients to get access, but we are partnering with people to enable the access. Frank and I connected through Brendan Buckley, the chief executive of Icon, who told me that Frank was the exact person I needed to work with,” Abeton said.
Whyze has partnered with Elligo Health Research, a US-based medical research business, to help broaden its reach. The target customers for Whyze are hospitals and other medical service providers.
“We are telling hospitals that we can bring them more research. If a hospital takes on research, it can provide more health options to patients and improve patient engagement,” Abeton said.
“We’re a return-on-investment piece of technology. It provides an additional revenue line to hospitals. We’re all about driving better health outcomes and we’re doing that through clinical research.”
Whyze has been through the Health Innovation Hub, a collaboration between Enterprise Ireland and the HSE to help drive innovation from health-sector businesses. The business is also part of Enterprise Ireland’s high-potential start-up unit.
“Enterprise Ireland has been an amazing support network for us as a start-up. We’re going down a valley that we don’t really know and they hand-hold us, guide us through it, and connect us up with people that help us build a scalable organisation,” Abeton said.
“They are very helpful in networking, financial advice, and mentoring. From the moment I’ve met them, they have been extremely positive.”
By Emmit Ryan for the Business Post IE
This Making it Work article is produced in partnership with Enterprise Ireland