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Peter Thiel’s Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) shares rose nearly 4.5% on Friday as the company may be on track to win a contract to overhaul the UK’s National Health Service, despite concerns over privacy.
Palantir (PLTR) has contracts around the world with government intelligence agencies and military forces around the world and appears set to be named the winning bidder for a five-year contract, which may be extended by as long as two years and is worth much as £480M, or $579M, Bloomberg reported recently, citing people familiar with the matter.
The data analytics company will help the agency analyze medical data, detect patterns and overhaul the entire system. The deal is subject to final approvals.
Civil rights and patient advocacy groups have expressed concerns over transparency with health data.
Addressing apprehensions, the NHS chief data officer said in August that a software vendor would “never hold or have access to NHS data for any purpose other than as directed by” the agency. Patients will have a say in how their information is used.
Palantir (PLTR) previously worked with the UK government helping manage the country’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
The Denver, Co.-based company has worked with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon helping interpret intelligence from Afghanistan and Iraq, Bloomberg said.
In 2020, a leaked document showed that the company had been given access to sensitive data, including political and religious affiliation and past criminal offenses.
Should the full contract be awarded to Palantir (PLTR), it will total about $83M a year. That compares to the company annual 2022 revenue of $1.9B.
Separately this week, Palantir (PLTR) teamed up with consulting firm PwC to bring AI to PwC’s clients.