Indianapolis-based hc1, the bioinformatics leader in precision testing and prescribing, won the Tech Product of the Year for its PGx Advisor™ product award during TechPoint’s 21st annual Mira Awards gala honoring the best of tech in Indiana.

WATCH VIDEO: Gerry Dick interviews hc1 Chairman and CEO Brad Bostic.
WATCH VIDEO: hc1 accepts Tech Product of the Year Mira Award.

For decades patients have been inadvertently over-tested, misdiagnosed and over-prescribed with ineffective medication cocktails—simply because doctors, pharmacists, and laboratories didn’t have access to complete patient information. Moreover, they lacked visibility into what makes each of our healthcare journeys intrinsically unique—our genetics. In rare cases when these data sets were accessible, there was no user-friendly framework in place to make them actionable to personalize patient care. Faced with limited time to digest an avalanche of patient volume and information, caregivers urgently need a new generation of high-value care solutions to be sure every patient receives the personalized care they deserve.

Furthermore, while 82 percent of the U.S. population is on at least one prescription medication, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates 50 percent of those drugs are ineffective or harmful. Adverse drug reactions rank as the fourth leading cause of death.

Pharmacogenomics has helped us learn that because our genetic makeup is unique our bodies react to medications uniquely. Medications that help one group of people may be ineffective or cause severe side effects in another. For example, asthma drugs have been found to be ineffective in as many as 40% of patients, and antidepressants are ineffective in 38% of patients.

hc1 celebrates the moment PGx Advisor was named Tech Product of the year.
hc1 Vice President, Rx Business Operations Reed Richardson.

PGx Advisor™ from hc1, which was launched in 2019, removes the barriers that stand in the way of precision prescribing. It is the only unified platform that combines patient-specific data from conventional medication therapy management (MTM), pharmacogenetics (PGx) and lab testing with integrated engagement and monitoring workflows to recommend informed improvements to the patient’s prescription plan and overall care.

hc1 PGx Advisor™ can greatly reduce the percentage of drugs prescribed that are either ineffective or harmful by making sure patients receive the right prescriptions at the right dose at the right time.

The Mira Awards judges believe hc1 is truly leading the way to improve a critical area of healthcare by applying its unique approaches to solving problems with data, cloud-based software, and a dedication to treating patients as individuals by providing a holistic view of each patient through complete data.

The judges were also impressed by the potential national scope and savings PGx Advisor could bring to a healthcare system overwhelmed by disparate information systems and costs. Illnesses and deaths resulting from non-optimized medication therapy cost the U.S. healthcare system more than $528 billion a year. Reducing overall costs while improving treatment requires an accurate and optimized medication regimen. Among typical working-age adults, average savings expected from implementation of PGx Advisor are more than $720 per person, per year. Among seniors, who carry even higher polypharmacy risk, savings are expected at more than $1,228 per person per year.

TechPoint, the nonprofit, industry-led growth accelerator for Indiana’s tech ecosystem, honored the successes and innovation of Indiana people, places, companies and products during the 21st annual and first-ever virtual Mira Awards gala with presenting sponsors Eli Lilly and Company, Genesys, Infosys, Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Salesforce.

WATCH RECORDING OF EVENT BROADCAST

A total of 15 award winners and honorees were chosen from the 129 outstanding people, places companies and products that were selected as nominees for their achievements during the 2019 calendar year. Forty-eight independent, volunteer judges spent more than 850 total hours evaluating applications, interviewing nominees, and selecting this year’s winners. Judges included company founders, CEOs and presidents, CTOs, CIOs, and other subject matter experts.

SEE ALL 2020 MIRA AWARD WINNERS

The Mira Awards are named after the first of the brilliant variable stars to be discovered – the Mira Star. It is also the Latin root meaning “worthy of admiration, wonderful, marvelous.” The awards represent the best of tech in Indiana each year.