Patients flock to this website, with drug companies in pursuit
THIS isn’t Brian Loew’s first run at internet success.
During the thick of the dotcom mania 20 years ago, Loew and some friends built an online publishing company called Worldweb.net. It had 150 employees and US$ 15 million ( RM68 million) in revenue but, like many start-ups from the era, it never posted a profit.
Worldweb.net created website software in the internet’s early days for Elle, Car and Driver, the ill-fated George magazine and other publications.
“I was going to be rich beyond my wildest dreams,” Loew said, recounting what his bankers had told him at the time.
Ten days away from the company’s initial public offering, the go- go, dot- com age imploded and Loew’s path to riches vaporised. The company, which bankers predicted could eventually be worth US$ 1 billion, was sold off for a small fraction of that.
“Investors got their money back, but nobody got rich,” Loew said.
The 46-year- old entrepreneur appears to be on to something with a better future this time around.
His nine-year- old medicalwebsite business, known as Inspire, has 1.1 million members, 33 employees, nearly US$ 10 million in revenue and will turn its first profit this year.
Inspire essentially is a giant, online discussion community where people can use real or assumed names to share experiences, information and advice about their various medical conditions.
“Join many others who understand what you’re going through and are making important decisions about their health,” says the greeting on Inspire’s website.
Loew and his company are attached to the surge of patient assertiveness, with more people questioning their health care and taking more of the responsibility out of the hands of professionals.
“Patient centricity really matters,” said Loew, who owns a big chunk of the company, along with investors.
Membership is free and increasing by 1,000 per day. Seventy- eight per cent of members are women.
I was going to be rich beyond my wildest dreams... Investors got their money back, but nobody got rich. Brian Loew
“Women are the chief medical officers of the home,” Loew said. “Many of our female members represent a member of the family - husbands, fathers, fathersin- siblings, children. So sometimes a woman would join and say, ‘ I’m a parent of a ‘preemie,’ a child of someone with a medical condition, a sister of someone else.’ ”
The company has a team of community moderators to make sure members get along on chats.
Revenue comes from advertising and from companies looking for hard-to-find patients to participate in clinical drug trials or market research.