Cindy Crawford-backed, whole-body MRI startup continues expansion, despite radiologist concern

A startup company offering whole-body MRI scans powered by artificial intelligence continues to expand, despite concerns raised by radiologists and other physicians.  

The Boston Globe recently profiled Prenuvo, which is based in California and says it’s “on a mission to allow consumers to take charge of their health.” Back in October, the company made a splash by raising $70 million from venture capital firm Felicis and super model/wellness investor Cindy Crawford, among others.

Prenuvo is now ramping up expansion with plans to launch in Boston, along with other upcoming openings in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, New York City, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Toronto. That’s in addition to already-operating outposts in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Boca Raton, Dallas, Vancouver and Minneapolis.

However, some are expressing concern that the service could cause more harm than good. Catherine Livingston, MD, a family medicine specialist who served as lead author of a 2016 report recommending against this practice, is one such skeptic.

“There is certainly not enough known about the use of [artificial intelligence] in direct-to-consumer imaging services,” Livingston, an associate professor of family medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine, told the newspaper. “We don’t even know that the benefits outweigh harms for whole body scans in asymptomatic people. Adding in ... AI is a Pandora’s box.”

Radiologist Matthew Davenport, MD, was blunter when asked for his own assessment of the business model.

“It is a terrible idea," Davenport, who is vice chair of the American College of Radiology's Quality and Safety Commission, told Insider back in December. “You find all sorts of stuff that would never occur to the patient. And you end up triggering workups, biopsies for imaging studies, operations, for findings in the body that would never have any importance for the patient.”

Prenuvo is offering the scans with AI for a charge of $2,499, and it’s already provided about 250,000 overall diagnoses to its patients, the Globe wrote March 20. Roughly 5% of those have been labeled as serious concerns requiring immediate follow-up. The company declined to say how many patients it has scanned since launching in 2018, but noted that some individuals have received multiple diagnoses. Issues unearthed have included stage 1 liver, kidney, pancreatic and brain cancer, along with herniated discs and arthritis.

Andrew Lacy, Prenuvo’s founder and chief executive, said his company plans to partner with researchers to further study its model. It has not yet published data but plans to soon in concert with the American Academy of Neurology conference, among other events.

“The current healthcare system is reactive. For many, health information comes too late, once a disease or condition has progressed, has symptoms, and is more difficult and expensive to treat,” Lacy said in a statement last fall announcing the $70 million fundraising round. “Our series A financing is validation of Prenuvo’s mission to catch conditions before they become crises and transform the healthcare approach as we know it to one that is rooted in proactive health.”

Others pitching in at the time included bestselling author and Nest founder Tony Fadell, 23&Me CEO Anne Wojcicki, and billionaire scientist Timothy A. Springer, PhD. At the time, Prenuvo said it planned to use the funds to invest in its AI team, new radiology tools, custom advanced-MRI builds and national expansion plans.

The scans cover 26 regions of the body in under one hour, allowing physicians employed by Prenuvo to screen for and diagnose more than 500 conditions “at a fraction of the cost of traditional MRI.” Lacy and colleagues said they’ve seen revenues grow by 240% year-over-year and had seven current clinics as of the fall.

Read more from the Boston Globe below.