Tech Updates: McKesson Launches Precision Oncology Consortium; Financing for RISA Labs PA Platform

McKesson on Wednesday launched a precision oncology initiative to guide practices as they move more heavily toward biomarker-driven cancer care.

The Precision Care Companion (PCC) was described in a statement as a “consortium of industry experts” that will assist practices with education, technology enhancements, and operational support, while providing analytics on biomarker testing rates for different cancer diagnoses.”¹

Designed to bring together different players in cancer care, PCC will create “a collaborative environment” to speed uptake of precision technology and therapies by including physicians and clinical staff as well as leaders from business and the pharmaceutical industry.

Marcus Neubauer, MD | Image Credit: © The US Oncology Network

“In the rapidly evolving field of biomarker testing, staying current with the latest science and treatment guidelines for each cancer can be challenging and time-consuming for providers and clinical staff,” Marcus Neubauer, MD, chief medical officer for The US Oncology Network, said in the statement. “PCC empowers providers to efficiently order comprehensive genomic testing and receive results directly into the workflow, enabling them to prescribe the most effective targeted therapies to achieve optimal outcomes.”

McKesson already supports practices in The US Oncology Network with the iKnowMed electronic health record (EHR) from Ontada, which provides point-of-care technology solutions and real-world evidence. The initiative, which is launching across more than 2750 community providers, will offer education and support tailored to the practice needs, “in a format that works best for them,” the statement said.

“Offerings include monthly master class webinars, a precision medicine boot camp, a molecular helpline for urgent questions about a specific patient’s biomarker test results, and lab-agnostic molecular tumor boards,” McKesson officials said in the statement.

RISA Labs Announces $3.5M in Financing

Early today, RISA Labs announced it had raised $3.5 million to deploy a new artificial intelligence (AI) platform designed to reduce prior authorization (PA) treatment delays, which have become a chronic challenge in cancer care.

RISA Labs made the announcement in a statement emailed to The American Journal of Managed Care^®.

The Palo Alto, California–based tech company received support from a diverse group of investors, including Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal as well as Oncology Ventures, founded by Ben Freeberg, former Optum Ventures vice president. Oncology Ventures’ advisors feature leaders from Flatiron Health, including current CEO Carolyn Starrett; Jeff Patton, MD, CEO of OneOncology; and Lee Newcomer, MD, former chief medical officer for UnitedHealth Group.

In a statement, Freeberg cited statistics showing that 70% of patients with cancer experience treatment delays due to PA requirements; of those cases, 33% of delays last a month, during which time cancer can progress.

The RISA platform, known as Business Operating System as a Service, or BOSS, is an EHR-agnostic platform that integrates with a practice’s existing technology to farm out tasks associated with PA, from identifying relevant guidelines from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network to sorting through individual payer requirements to determine medical need.²

The purpose of BOSS is to reduce the amount of time clinicians spend on PA tasks and learning operating systems (OS) as oncology faces workforce shortages, according to a statement from RISA.

Kshitij Jaggi | | Image Credit: © Crunchbase

“We’ve had Windows, we’ve had Linux, we’ve had Mac; each OS helped humans extract more from machines. But now, we’re drowning in software. There’s too much of it, and a shortage of skilled labor to operate it. Software that was supposed to get work done has become work itself,” Kshitij Jaggi, cofounder and CEO of RISA Labs, said in the statement. “BOSS is an AI OS designed for the post–ChatGPT era: where work is no longer about learning tools, but simply expressing intent.”

BOSS has been tested at several cancer practice sites, including New York Cancer and Blood Specialists (NYCBS), one of the founding practices of OneOncology. The technology reduced PA times from 30 minutes to under 5 minutes, cutting administrative costs 66%.

“Cancer care is time sensitive. Every delay in treatment can affect outcomes. Prior authorizations continue to slow us down. What RISA is building is not just smart technology. It removes barriers so our teams can move faster and stay focused on what matters most: caring for patients,” Jeffrey Vacirca, MD, FACP, the CEO of NYCBS, said in the statement.

Going forward, RISA plans to pursue AI-driven solutions for other oncology decision points, including operational and clinical workflows. According to the statement, solutions could include improving coordination and intelligence “across providers, life sciences organizations, and other stakeholders throughout the journey of a drug—extending the company’s long-term vision to building a unified layer for AI-driven orchestration in oncology.”

References

1. McKesson unveils Precision Care Companion, revolutionizing precision medicine in community oncology. News release. Business Wire; April 16, 2025. Accessed April 17, 2025. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250416259427/en/McKesson-Unveils-Precision-Care-Companion-Revolutionizing-Precision-Medicine-in-Community-Oncology

2. Pandey H, Amod A, Shivang, et al. Digital twin ecosystem for oncology clinical operations. Cornell University, Computer Science Artificial Intelligence. September 24, 2024. doi:10.48550/arXiv.2409.1765