DaVita acquires MedSleuth to streamline transplant process for kidney and liver candidates

Kidney care giant DaVita has acquired transplant software company MedSleuth to ease access burdens on kidney and liver transplant candidates.

MedSleuth’s products won’t be used by DaVita’s providers or at its clinics, which don’t offer transplants. They’ll continue to be used by MedSleuth clients at transplant centers across the country. The acquisition will bolster DaVita’s portfolio of efforts in kidney care, despite not integrating directly with its primary business.

The company declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Seeking a kidney or liver transplant can be a long and arduous process for patients, complicated by a lack of supply and the difficulty of finding a compatible donor.

MedSleuth offers software solutions to help improve that process for patients, with tools to evaluate candidates, make sure they stay active on the waitlist and connect them with providers and care teams.

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With the acquisition, DaVita aims to support patients throughout their entire care journey, from kidney failure prevention to dialysis to transplantation, with a focus on promoting health equity, the company said.

“Kidney transplantation is a life-changing option for most people with kidney failure, one that’s limited today by supply and complexity,” said Javier Rodriguez, CEO of DaVita, in a statement. “MedSleuth has built a powerful platform that can help increase patients’ access to transplantation. We’re looking forward to supporting the team to accelerate innovation and help streamline the transplant process for transplant candidates, transplant centers, physicians and care teams.”

MedSleuth’s flagship product, BREEZE, collects clinical and demographic information from potential kidney and liver donors and recipients and provides that information to transplant centers, streamlining the transplant process.

The company also offers a platform called MATCHGRID that uses optimization algorithms to match living organ donors with patients in need of a transplant whose donors, though healthy, are incompatible.

The business will operate as a subsidiary of DaVita, and MedSleuth CEO James Kalamas will maintain his position in leading the company.

“We knew DaVita was the best long-term home for MedSleuth because we share a common vision to increase access to transplantation,” said Kalamas. “Together, we’ll continue reimagining the transplant experience to help improve the lives of transplant patients.”

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DaVita has previously confronted regulatory issues around competition in the market. The company provides services at over 2,800 outpatient dialysis centers in the U.S. and operates 333 of its own centers worldwide.

Most recently, in October, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered DaVita to divest itself of three dialysis clinics in Utah and instated a 10-year requirement for the kidney care giant to seek prior approval for any further acquisitions in the state.

The FTC’s complaint against DaVita argued that the company “has a history of attempting to buy up competing dialysis clinics in an industry that is already highly concentrated.”

DaVita was also indicted, along with its former CEO, in July for creating an anti-poaching agreement with competitors to prevent the companies from attempting to recruit each other’s senior-level employees from 2012 to 2017. 

The company said it does not expect the MedSleuth acquisition to raise any regulatory concerns.