Everlywell, a leader in the at-home diagnostic testing space, has acquired PWNHealth and its subsidiary Home Access Health to form a new parent company called Everly Health.

PWNHealth and Home Access Health both have self-collected lab test services, and by combining the companies, Everly Health will support more than 20 million people annually in all 50 U.S. states, Canada and Puerto Rico, according to the announcement.

Under the transaction, PWNHealth will be rebranded as Everly Health Solutions and will operate as an independent subsidiary of Everly Health. It will maintain complete data independence from Everlywell. 

Julia Cheek, the founder and CEO of Everlywell, will serve as CEO of Everly Health, and PWNHealth’s CEO Sanjay Pingle will join the company’s board.

As investors in PWNHealth, Spectrum Equity and Blue Venture Fund will continue to have an ownership position in Everly Health.

WHY THIS MATTERS

The market for at-home lab testing has grown substantially over the course of the pandemic, due in large part to demand for COVID-19 tests and people’s desire to stay away from onsite clinical locations.

For its part, Everlywell had over 300% growth in 2020, it said in the announcement.

"The pandemic significantly accelerated the growth of consumer-friendly lab testing within the $85 billion testing market, resulting in a watershed moment for all aspects of diagnostics. People now expect affordable, high-quality, and easy diagnostic testing more than ever before," Cheek said in a statement.

"From technology to testing to treatment, Everly Health will transform lives with modern, diagnostics-driven care. Our priority is creating a world-class experience that enables our partners to deliver better care with ease."

THE LARGER TREND

The two companies have a background of working together and, since Everlywell’s start in 2016, PWNHealth has provided clinical oversight and telehealth guidance based on its more than 20 years of experience.

They partnered back at the start of the pandemic on Everlywell’s at-home collection kit. But following a regulatory kerfuffle, the launch was delayed until May.

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized hundreds of mail-order, in-home, OTC or app-connected COVID-19 tests over the past year. Notably, it gave its first EUA for home testing to Lucira last November, its first OTC in-home diagnostic test EUA to Ellume Health last December and its first at-home OTC molecular test EUA to Cue Health this March.

In a bid to increase COVID-19 screening testing, the FDA recently shared that it will allow marketing for some COVID-19 tests before their effectiveness is studied in asymptomatic individuals.

Everlywell closed out last year with an oversubscribed $175 million Series D funding round. The company said it plans to use the funds to grow its testing market, flesh out its virtual care offerings, scale up its testing capabilities and infrastructure, and use its testing system to support clinical research.

ON THE RECORD

"Better care leads to better outcomes," Pingle said in a statement.

"Through our history, we've only chosen to work with partners who uphold exceptionally high standards for clinical quality and rigor because that's what the individuals in our care trust us to provide. As part of Everly Health, PWNHealth will be able to deliver even more value to our community of industry-leading partners as we offer them new ways to provide better experiences for the people they serve."