Hearst, a market leader in healthcare technology, announced an equity investment in M2Gen, a health informatics subsidiary of Moffitt Cancer Center, one of the top comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. This partnership will help accelerate the discovery of innovative cancer therapies and improve care for patients nationwide. The collaboration will provide funding to expand the efforts of the nation's first major data sharing network among leading cancer institutions.

"Hearst is committed to investing in companies and solutions whose information and analytics can improve and advance healthcare," said Hearst President and CEO Steven R. Swartz. "M2Gen is making enormous strides in advancing cancer research through its pioneering work, and we are proud to join this mission."

As one of the top-ranked cancer centers in the nation, Moffitt is world-renowned for its ability to take groundbreaking research and translate it to treatments at the patient's bedside. A pioneer in big data for healthcare, M2Gen's innovative Total Cancer Care (TCC) protocol was developed to enable better research of cancer and patients, tracking each patient throughout his or her lifetime, and using this information to drive novel therapies and advancements in care. Cancer therapy researchers gain access to this clinical and genetic information to help accelerate new drug discovery and match cancer patients to clinical trials.

"Moffitt's culture is rooted in teamwork and collaboration. It is why we have been so successful at developing new treatments and bringing them to cancer patients," said Moffitt President and CEO Alan F. List, MD. "Adding Hearst to M2Gen's strengths will magnify the work we are doing and help define the future of innovation in cancer care worldwide. Patients will benefit profoundly."

In 2014, Moffitt, M2Gen and The Ohio State University built upon the legacy that began in 2006 with the creation of the Oncology Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN)-the first-ever national cancer data sharing network, which currently includes 17 U.S. cancer care institutions.

"M2Gen's vast and growing database helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies accelerate discovery of new therapies by helping match cancer patients to clinical trials based on the unique molecular features in their disease," adds M2Gen Executive Chair William Dalton, Ph.D., MD. "Hearst's investment will be used to scale the patient database and accelerate the structuring of the data to facilitate clinical discoveries."

"M2Gen's unique ability to pair a person's clinical and genetic data for analysis puts it at the leading edge of genetics-based oncology research, and we are eager to extend Hearst Health's reach and make an important contribution to this new area of science," said Hearst Business Media President Richard P. Malloch.

Hearst has offered healthcare information solutions since 1980, and its Hearst Health division, led by President Gregory Dorn, MD, includes the market-leading companies First Databank (FDB), Zynx Health, MCG, Homecare Homebase and MedHOK, acquired in 2016 and also based in Tampa. Solutions from Hearst Health span the clinical, pharmacy, home and hospice care, and health insurance markets. Each year in the U.S., care guidance from the Hearst Health network reaches 84 percent of discharged patients, 177 million insured individuals, 60 million home health visits and 3.1 billion dispensed prescriptions.

"Moffitt is aggressive in developing innovative partnerships with organizations that understand the importance of advancing the science of cancer," said Moffitt Institute Board of Directors Chair Timothy J. Adams. "Advanced research leads to advanced treatments-all to the benefit of the patients."

"This partnership with Hearst will allow us to invest in the people, technology and cancer center partners throughout ORIEN that will improve quality, safety and efficiency within the healthcare system and increase patient engagement with the patient as an active participant in their own journey," said M2Gen President and CEO Timothy R. Wright. "Ultimately, this will lead us to being able to provide clinical decision support tools at the point of care based on the learnings from the hundreds of thousand patient partners in Total Cancer Care."

Barclays acted as the Exclusive Financial Advisor to M2Gen on the transaction.

About Hearst

Hearst is one of the nation's largest diversified media, information and services companies with more than 360 businesses. Its major interests include ownership in cable television networks such as A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime and ESPN; majority ownership of global ratings agency Fitch Group; Hearst Health, a group of medical information and services businesses; 30 television stations such as WCVB-TV in Boston and KCRA-TV in Sacramento, Calif., which reach a combined 19 percent of U.S. viewers; newspapers such as the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle and Albany Times Union, nearly 300 magazines around the world including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper's BAZAAR and Car and Driver; digital services businesses such as iCrossing and KUBRA; and investments in emerging digital and video companies such as BuzzFeed, Vice, Complex Networks and AwesomenessTV. Follow us on Twitter @HearstLive and @Hearst, and subscribe to Hearstlink.

About Hearst Business Media

Hearst Business Media is a global technology leader delivering information, insights, analytics, and workflow solutions to meet worldwide needs in the finance, healthcare and transportation markets. Its holdings include renowned brands such as Fitch Group, one of the leading global ratings agencies; the Hearst Health network of market-leading healthcare companies First Databank (FDB), Zynx Health, MCG,Homecare Homebase and MedHOK, which provide care guidance to patients, hospitals, and insurers; and Hearst Transportation, which includes CAMP Systems International, Inc., MOTOR Information Systems and Black Book. It also includes two venture funds: Hearst Health Ventures, which invests in startups offering impactful health IT solutions and technology-enabled healthcare services and the Financial Venture Fund, which invests in early-stage financial information, service and technology companies. Hearst Business Media companies have offices in more than 30 countries.

About Moffitt Cancer Center

Moffitt is dedicated to one lifesaving mission: to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer. The Tampa-based facility is one of only 49 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt's excellence in research, clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt is a Top 10 cancer hospital and has been nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report since 1999. Moffitt's expert nursing staff is recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center with Magnet® status, its highest distinction. With more than 5,700 team members, Moffitt has an economic impact in the state of $2.1 billion. For more information, call 1-888-MOFFITT (1-888-663-3488), visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the momentum on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

About M2Gen

M2Gen is a health informatics solutions company focused on accelerating the discovery and development of personalized medicines. M2Gen partners with the nation's leading cancer centers through ORIEN to create a large, cancer-focused data warehouse linking clinical and molecular data. Using this information, M2Gen helps biopharmaceutical companies address the greatest challenges in oncology drug development. For more information, visit www.M2Gen.com.