PATIENTSLIKEME SECURES $5 MILLION SERIES A FINANCING

PatientsLikeMe (patientslikeme.com), the leading treatment and outcome sharing website for people with life-changing diseases, announced today that it has secured $5 million in Series A funding led by Collaborative Seed and Growth Partners, LLC with participation from private equity fund Invus, LP. Previous investors in PatientsLikeMe include founding partner CommerceNet and Omidyar Network.

“PatientsLikeMe is the most compelling health care social networking site I’ve seen. Patients share quantitative data on treatments and outcomes, enabling them to make better, more informed decisions, while helping to advance medical research.” hails Dr. Jay M. Tenenbaum, Founder and Chairman of CommerceNet.

“Imagine knowing every medication, supplement, or device used to treat your disease. Imagine knowing what treatments work for people just like you — and having the ability to easily connect with those people. That’s what makes PatientsLikeMe different. Patients share their treatments and outcomes not just to help themselves, but to help others,” says President and co-Founder Benjamin Heywood.

Founded by three MIT engineers, brothers Benjamin and James Heywood and longtime friend Jeff Cole, PatientsLikeMe launched its beta product in March 2006 specifically for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) patients. Benjamin and James’ brother, Stephen, recently passed away after an eight year battle with the disease. “Stephen inspired us to launch PatientsLikeMe to improve treatment options for people with ALS,” explains James Heywood. “With his passing, and the overwhelming demand from leaders in other disease areas, we realized PatientsLikeMe was too important not to develop for other diseases.” The documentary, So Much So Fast, chronicles the Heywood family’s fight against ALS.

PatientsLikeMe plans to expand its service to over 50 diseases during the next two years. If you would like to request a PatientsLikeMe community for your disease, please send an email to