The UK business of Babylon Health has entered administration with two divisions immediately acquired by a US health company.
A new UK subsidiary of eMed has snapped up Babylon’s clinical services business, which includes its GP at Hand app – used widely in the NHS – as well as its AI research division Babylon Partners.
The development follows the collapse of its business in the US after a rescue merger deal with MindMaze – developer of technology and digital neurotherapeutic solutions for brain health and recovery – fell apart this month.
Babylon was founded in 2013 by British-Iranian entrepreneur Ali Parsa (pictured). Its GP at Hand app continues to be used by around 100,000 NHS patients to virtually access GPs while its preventative telehealth practice serves 700,000 people in the UK through contracts with major providers like the private healthcare group Bupa.
The firm employs 650 people in Britain, according to Linkedin, while it is estimated to have a global workforce of 1,900. It lost £173.7 million last year amid efforts to expand into the US.
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Andrea Jakes, MD of administrator Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP, said: “The appointment of administrators over Babylon’s UK business to facilitate a sale to eMed ensures the least possible disruption for Babylon users, which should continue to operate as normal.”
Babylon was once the darling of the UK HealthTech scene and secured early investment from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Swedish venture capital group Kinnevik and data company Palantir.
However it has endured a spectacular fall from grace since listing in New York in 2021. Having spurned London with a $4.2 billion SPAC merger Stateside as its popularity soared during COVID, its market cap is now just $5,000.
Last year Babylon scaled back its NHS partnerships, championed by former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, while net losses more than doubled to $63.2 million in the three months to the end of March.