Around five years ago, software developer Francisco Diaz-Mitoma discovered he had a hereditary cardiovascular condition that required ongoing health monitoring through a series of lab tests. Realizing that while he was accumulating significant amounts of health data, there was no secure, centralized platform to store and analyze it, he set out to create a solution. Together with his father, Dr. Francisco Diaz Mitoma, he co-founded the Canadian startup Bowhead Health, named after the bowhead whale, known for its exceptional longevity of up to 220 years.
"Longevity is central to our mission, and the bowhead whale symbolizes that in the best way possible," Francisco said.
With two decades of experience in developing software systems, Francisco brought deep expertise to Bowhead Health. The company creates solutions for life sciences, pharmaceutical companies, and hospitals, offering patient-facing applications on a licensing model for corporate clients. One of their standout offerings is the Bowhead Navigator, an AI-powered platform designed to match patients to clinical trials and provide evidence-based medical guidelines.
Tackling Challenges in Clinical Trial Matching
One of the significant issues in matching patients to clinical trials is the volume of data doctors need to review, including medical history, medications, past treatments, and genomic reports. For complex cases such as cancer, a doctor may need to sift through 50 to 100 pages of patient data and information on available trials, a process that can take up to a week to complete manually. Francisco highlighted how the Bowhead Navigator addresses this challenge: "Our platform securely processes both structured and unstructured data and matches patients to the most suitable clinical trials, saving doctors valuable time."
Bowhead has been collaborating with patient societies in Europe and hospitals globally to validate the platform's accuracy and efficacy in reducing the administrative burden on medical professionals. The platform is particularly valuable for patients undergoing next-generation sequencing for cancer, where detailed data on genomic mutations must be compared against trial requirements. This capability represents a key step in advancing precision medicine.
Expanding Globally and Targeting Taiwan
Bowhead Health's current pilot programs are active in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. Francisco expressed interest in extending their reach to Asia, particularly Taiwan, known for its robust technology and life sciences sectors. "We view Taiwan as a potential hub for validation studies, which could then expand to the broader Asian market," Francisco said. The company is actively seeking partnerships with early adopters, including oncologists, clinics, and hospitals that see AI as a tool to optimize workflows and enhance patient care.
Regulatory and Security Focus
After completing the validation phases and proving the platform's accuracy, Bowhead Health plans to seek the necessary regulatory approvals to operate in its target markets. The platform is currently hosted on Amazon and Microsoft cloud services, depending on partner preferences, but can also be run on-premise within hospital environments. This flexibility is vital for hospitals that prioritize data security and prefer isolated systems.
"We can run our software in an air-gapped on-premise environment, ensuring that no external company has access to sensitive data," Francisco noted. Data privacy and security are fundamental aspects of Bowhead Health's philosophy. "There's a lot of talk about data and AI, but privacy often becomes secondary. That's why, at Bowhead, we put data privacy and security at the core of what we do, empowering patients to own and control their health records."
Transparent AI and Traceable Responses
A distinctive feature of Bowhead Navigator is its use of "transparent AI." Francisco explained, "Our platform allows users to double-click on clinical trials or treatments and see why they were recommended. This traceability is essential in healthcare for ensuring patient safety and understanding the decision-making process."
The platform achieves this transparency through knowledge graphs that map out nodes of labeled information. This structured approach allows healthcare professionals to see the rationale behind AI-generated recommendations—a feature that traditional large language models often lack.
Seamless Integration and Interoperability
Bowhead Health's platform can integrate seamlessly with hospital systems through APIs using the FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standard. This interoperability enables data from electronic medical records to be processed efficiently. For hospitals with limited IT resources, the Bowhead Navigator also offers a standalone platform where data can be imported directly, streamlining the process of finding suitable clinical trials and treatments. Francisco mentioned, "We pull data from sources like clinicaltrials.gov and Dana-Farber's genomic database and can customize our platform to incorporate regional medical guidelines."
Addressing Doctor Burnout and Patient Wait Times
Francisco stressed that one of Bowhead Health's primary goals is to reduce the administrative workload that contributes to doctor burnout. "Patients are waiting too long, and doctors worldwide are overwhelmed with paperwork instead of focusing on patient care. We aim to streamline workflows to benefit both doctors and patients," he said.
With its AI-driven solutions, Bowhead Health is poised to transform clinical trial matching and precision medicine while upholding the highest standards of data privacy and transparency. The company's commitment to empowering patients and supporting medical professionals sets it apart in a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.
