LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Lightship, the premier provider of enterprise level, direct-to-patient clinical research solutions, today announced a $20 million investment led by McKesson Ventures and Define Ventures with participation from Khosla Ventures, Brook Byers, and Marc Benioff and the appointment of David MacMurchy as CEO and Tom Pike as Executive Chairman.

“We launched Lightship over a year ago to transform the existing clinical research landscape,” said Co-Founder Alon Krashinsky. “There is a tremendous opportunity ahead of us to enable a broader population of patients to be able to participate in research as a care option. Delivered at enterprise scale, we believe this model will accelerate clinical research by as much as 30-50%. We are thrilled to be able to work with McKesson Ventures and Define Ventures to continue to drive towards that goal.”

The Series B closes concurrently with the appointment of David MacMurchy as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. MacMurchy was recruited from PRA Health Sciences, where he led the organization’s Europe, Asia Pacific, and Africa business as Executive Vice President. Prior to joining PRA, MacMurchy was Ernst & Young’s Markets Leader for Life Sciences, Consumer Products, and Retail Practice.

“The team that has come together to build this business has the right combination of experiences to successfully deliver this new clinical research model,” said MacMurchy. “I’m excited to apply my experience serving some of the most innovative companies in pharma to deliver this new model, and I am honored by the opportunity to lead the organization and truly revolutionize how clinical research is delivered in the marketplace.”

With this investment, McKesson Ventures and Define Ventures, along with Brook Byers, join previous investors Khosla Ventures and Marc Benioff in financing Lightship’s rapid expansion. The latest round of financing will allow Lightship to continue to build the leading team to deliver Direct-to-Patient clinical research, and further develop its clinical research technology platform to ensure operational excellence in upcoming trial launches.

“We continue to observe broad industry support for new approaches to lower drug development costs and increase access to relevant trials,” said Dave Schulte, Managing Director of McKesson Ventures. “We believe Lightship’s innovative clinical research model will directly address these issues and allow research dollars to be invested more efficiently towards the development of life-saving drugs.”

“We’ve been impressed with Lightship’s approach of bringing a modern consumer experience to clinical research,” said Lynne Chou O’Keefe, Managing Director of Define Ventures. “We see a tremendous opportunity to bring clinical research as a care option to a patient population who’s never previously been able to participate. We are excited to be able to work with Lightship to deliver on that promise.”

MacMurchy, Schulte, and O’Keefe will join Krashinsky, Pike, and Samir Kaul (Partner, Khosla Ventures) on the Board of Directors.

About Lightship

Lightship is the premier provider of enterprise level, direct-to-patient clinical research solutions. We engage patients at home to make taking part in clinical research more accessible for everyone. We utilize modern technology and an integrated digital platform that allows patients to seamlessly engage with our doctors, coordinators, and nurses at all phases of the study. Learn more about us at www.lightship.com.

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