Curative (company)

Curative Inc. is a health care startup company best known for scaling COVID-19 testing and COVID-19 vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2022, Curative Inc. launched Curative Insurance Company, a new health insurance plan featuring no copays and no deductibles. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with employees throughout the United States, the company was founded in January 2020 by Fred Turner, Isaac Turner (no relation), and Vlad Slepnev to create new diagnostic tests for sepsis and to improve outcomes for sepsis patients. In response to an urgent, unmet need for COVID-19 test development and production in the United States, Curative rapidly shifted focus in March 2020. The company's research team developed a new test for SARS-CoV-2 that utilized oral swabs rather than nasopharyngeal swabs. The Curative test was designed with a scalable process and opportunities to reduce healthcare worker exposure risk, and therefore the amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) used. An independent manufacturing and supply chain model was adopted to avoid competing with existing COVID-19 test companies for limited supplies and laboratory capacity.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Curative's SARS-CoV-2 Assay in April 2020. By October 2020, nearly 10% of the SARS-CoV-2 tests performed in the United States had been performed by Curative, and the company's weekly test processing capacity reached one million tests per week. As of November 2020, Curative had administered more than 2 million tests in the city of Los Angeles, and expanded service offerings to include test site management, test accessibility enhancements (kiosks, mobile vans), and efficient results reporting through proprietary software.

Starting in December 2020, Curative expanded its service to include COVID-19 vaccine distribution, vaccination site management, and vaccine management system for communities in the United States. As of December 2022, Curative has administered over 35 million tests and administered 2 million vaccines through a network of affiliated providers.

In Q3 of 2022, Curative began the process of shutting down its COVID-19 testing business while simultaneously launching an employer-based health insurance offering**. Utilizing a new model for health insurance, the Curative plan has one monthly premium, and there are no additional costs for accessing medical services and most pharmaceuticals within their broad-based physician network and extensive drug formulary*. The health insurance plan is designed to focus on preventative care and total well-being through proactive relationship management for members. The PPO-network health insurance plan launched in late September 2022 out of Austin, Texas, with plans to expand across other areas of the state in 2023.

As of December 31, 2022, Curative has shut down its COVID-19 services business. In 2023, the company fully shifted its operations to its health insurance business.