Building a Global AI Venture for Medical Imaging Analysis from India: Prashant Warier, CEO of Qure.ai (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: When did you enter the US? Before of after the Sequoia funding?

Prashant Warier: Just before the Sequoia funding, we hired our Chief Commercial Officer, but we didn’t have FDA clearance. FDA clearance came in 2021. Our real traction was in 2022. Even now, we are very small in the US. We have some commercial traction, but we’ve a long way to go. The other thing is that we are able to identify patients early.

One of our use cases is identifying lung cancer early. About 85% of lung cancer cases are diagnosed very late. That is because when the nodule or mass is small, there are no symptoms. By the time it’s large, it’s already in other organs. At this time, survival rates are abysmal.

The traditional way of screening is CT-based. The reality is, people don’t show up. Out of a hundred that are eligible, less than five show up. That number varies. This is in partnership with Astra Zeneca. Can we look at the 1.3 billion chest X-rays that are taken? Can we identify a potentially malignant nodule? We have a lot of data now which show that, by doing that, you can activate a new set of patients. You can get those patients to do CT and confirm lung cancer. That market became a go-to market for us.

Sramana Mitra: How does that work? Whom are you selling to? Is it the hospital that is doing this test?

Prashant Warier: There are subsidies coming from the pharma companies. It’s a partnership between Qure.ai, the pharma company, and the hospital.

Sramana Mitra: Very interesting. What is the pricing?

Prashant Warier: It’s very complex. We have so many products, and we have so many geographies.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s talk about the TB product.

Prashant Warier: You price on an annual basis. It’s an annual license. The price ranges around $20,000 to $30,000 per year.

Sramana Mitra: For unlimited use?

Prashant Warier: Yes.

Sramana Mitra: Per center?

Prashant Warier: Per site, yes.

Sramana Mitra: And the stroke screening.

Prashant Warier: Similar range but slightly higher.

Sramana Mitra: When you’re doing a deal, how many $20,000 to $30,000 systems are you selling? Are we talking about hundreds of thousands deal sizes?

Prashant Warier: It depends. Some customers will just buy one. Some will buy 10.

Sramana Mitra: Can you sell it in a profitable way or do you have to visit everybody?

Prashant Warier: With TB, we are at a point where we have good product market fit. Everybody knows the value of Qure.ai. There, we are seeing people buy it without a lot of face-to-face interaction. In other markets, no.

The good thing now is that, especially with COVID, a lot of customers are comfortable doing video calls. There is some of that happening, but everything requires a significant number of calls. Maybe anywhere between 10 and 20 calls to convert a customer. Calls and meetings.

Sramana Mitra: That’s a little bit tricky in the beginning. Once you get to the point where you can sell more automatically, those deals will become profitable. $20,000 to $30,000 is not a price point that you can give so much high-touch selling to and still be profitable.

Prashant Warier: There are a couple of things. Our technology is like using Google Maps. When I started using Google Maps, I used to remember all the routes. Then you get used to it and you are reliant on it.

This segment is part 6 in the series : Building a Global AI Venture for Medical Imaging Analysis from India: Prashant Warier, CEO of Qure.ai
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