UK Health Improvement App Attracts Investment from Fortune 500 company

roadtohealth group partners with RGA to expand multi-platform global distribution for Quealth app

NOTTINGHAM, UK, Sept.19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - roadtohealth, the UK company behind award-winning health improvement application Quealth™, has closed its first funding round with Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA), a US Fortune 500 company. The investment will allow roadtohealth to accelerate its global growth and product-enhancement plans for Quealth.

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RGA is one of the world's largest life and health reinsurers, with approximately $3.1 trillion of life reinsurance in force and assets of $53.9 billion. RGA has taken a minority stake in roadtohealth, with an initial investment of over $4m and further investments dependent on performance and other criteria.

Quealth is distributed free via Apple's App Store, Google Play, the Samsung Galaxy App Store and Lenovo's newly released App Explorer. The latest version of the app adds an interactive digital health coach to the core health risk assessment modules.

Clinically validated by a team of leading academics, including Professor Stephen Weng at the University of Nottingham, Quealth helps health-conscious people assess how at risk they are from one or more of the five major non-communicable – and largely preventable – diseases in the developed world: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Proprietary algorithms at the heart of the app – all with AUC (a globally recognised measure of how accurately they predict clinical outcomes) values of between 0.77 and 0.80 – calculate an individual's risk of developing these diseases. They are based on answers given to a series of questions covering family medical history, biometrics and lifestyle. Depending on an individual's 'Quealth Score' – a number between 1 and 100 – the app then provides evidence-based content and coaching drawn from the latest behavioural change science to drive sustainable lifestyle improvements.

Future releases will incorporate live biometric and activity data from hundreds of different mobile apps and wearable devices.

Alistair Wickens, CEO of roadtohealth, said: "RGA is an ideal investor in and partner for roadtohealth. They share the same deep understanding of health risk scoring systems and are conscious of how fast the world is changing when it comes to individuals needing to understand their health risks and wanting the tools to improve them. This first stage investment enables us to work with academic bodies around the world to incorporate regional factors as well as to accelerate our distribution discussions with electronics manufacturers, health and charitable bodies and the medical, health and life insurance markets."

Quealth is a proven differentiator in the digital health arena in that it does more than just measure an individual's current state of health – it allows people to understand what their risks may be in a number of critical areas and then helps and guides them to make a difference. Dr. Philip Smalley, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of RGA International Corporation, a subsidiary of RGA, said: "Quealth has the credentials to make its scoring system and the inputs used to generate it relevant to our insurance business."

Quealth has been developed on the back of roadtohealth's 14 years experience of providing risk assessment technology for health information, pharmacies and insurance companies from around the world. With an advisory board of renowned experts, the company has refined the app under clinical scrutiny so that its simple-to-understand and easy-to-complete question and answer sets provide as accurate an overall health risk assessment profile as possible without medical involvement.

Quealth www.quealth.co is the most accurate health & lifestyle app available. It quantifies your health, coaches you to make improvements and rewards your successes. Quealth combines the latest behavioural change science with the global reach of technology to encourage you to make lifestyle changes and live a longer, healthier life. Based on the award-winning and highly validated Quealth™ Score – a universally recognised and trusted predictor of health risk – Quealth focusses on the prevention of five leading non-communicable diseases: diabetes, six forms of cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Quealth is owned by the roadtohealth group, an internationally-recognised health risk assessment and lifestyle management company. Formed in 2002, roadtohealth has successfully developed an international footprint by partnering with global brands including Aviva, Patient.info, Samsung and HSBC.

All products or brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

© Copyright 2016 roadtohealth group.

About RGA: Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated is one of the largest global life and health reinsurance companies in the world. The company provides clients with individual life reinsurance, individual living benefits reinsurance, group reinsurance, health reinsurance, financial solutions, facultative underwriting and product development. RGA and its subsidiaries serve clients from operations in Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Worldwide, RGA has approximately $3.1 trillion of life reinsurance in force and assets of $53.9 billion.

SOURCE Quealth