The GP at Hand app, which is backed by Health Minister Matt Hancock, has posted a loss of £23.3 million for 2017, nearly doubling its losses from £12.9 million in 2016.

Led by Iran-born former banker Dr Ali Parsa, Babylon reported revenues of £1.5 million, up from £797,000 the year before. The losses were registered through Babylon Partners Limited, one of three registered companies Babylon operates in the UK – its parent company is based in Jersey.

The group has responded to the losses saying that it had signed several major “contracts” since its financial year ended. A Babylon spokesperson said: “The net loss reported in the BPL accounts for 2017 reflects the considerable up-front costs associated with creating one of the world’s largest and most advanced multi-disciplinary teams dedicated to building next-generation, AI-powered healthcare technologies.”

They added: “The scale of this investment is not only necessary from a tech development perspective but is also increasing the company’s propensity to scale its operations globally.”

As of April, 200 GPs in both private healthcare and the NHS had joined the company’s roster, working remotely to undertake consultations. In March, Pulse reported that the app had 26,000 NHS patients in London.

In September, Babylon announced a $100 million (£76.3 million) investment to expand its worldwide operations and double the size of its team in London. The company was valued at $280 million (£213 million) in its latest fundraising fund round last year.

Trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority

The recent downturn comes hot on the heels of a recent ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which deemed Babylon’s adverts for its GP at Hand service were misleading.

Three of the company’s ads, which included paid for online posts, claimed that users would be able to see a NHS GP within minutes for free on a 24-hour basis. However, these ads failed to make clear that the services advertised were only available to those who lived or worked 40 minutes from one of the five surgeries or within the catchment areas in London. Furthermore, the ads did not explain to patients they would have to leave their current doctor in order to use the service.

Alongside this unfavourable ruling, Babylon has seen its desire to expand more widely in the UK met with resistance from local NHS groups, which are concerned about its impact on patient safety and funding structures. The app proclaims that it is as “accurate as a doctor,” but doctors are not as confident and worry about its reliability of its diagnoses.