From Theranos To Google Glass: The Biggest Flops In Digital Health

The tech start-up scene, investors, and news-reading audiences reward great stories on the edge of human capabilities - sometimes even on the boundary of science and science fiction - with their attention, money, or invested energy. However, sometimes marketing machines are better than actual technologies, and the ‘little bubbles’ around companies burst. Here, we collected the most promising digital health ideas and companies over the years that proved to be the greatest flops in medical innovation so far.

'Big little bubbles' that turned into digital health failures

Humans love great stories, especially stories that are pushing the edge of the capabilities and knowledge of our species. When we hear news about amazing achievements we like to think that’s already out there and an available reality for anyone. As in the case of the research at the University of Houston where a team created an algorithm that allowed a man to grasp a bottle and other objects with a prosthetic hand, only powered by his thoughts. The sensationalist nature of media only fuels that: it tends to over-hype outstanding medical findings, creative healthcare solutions, and ephemeral experiments alike. Well, for 15 minutes, usually, as tomorrow comes a new day with a brand-new sensation.

That doesn’t help when trying to stand on the ground of realities, not to mention how that creates the illusion that companies must get out there with more and more fantastic stories within the shortest amount of time possible. Not to mention the fact that investors also love great stories and prefer a promising return on their investment – potentially within the shortest amount of time. In healthcare, an industry that has an aversion to change and where product development takes much more time than with regards to technology in general, that attitude can become problematic.

As investment has been pouring steadily into healthcare, especially into the digital health market in the last years, and more and more companies would want to get a fair share of the pie, that attitude turns into marketing machines with overhyped messages about what innovations can do and ‘little bubbles’ emerge around disruptive solutions that sound too good to be true. Here, we collected some examples about the most talked-about promises in digital health in the last years, which turned out to be the biggest ‘little bubbles’ in our industry: their technology couldn’t live up to the expectations, their management couldn’t solve the challenges, or both issues were present – so ultimately they failed.

Source: www.medium.com

1) Theranos that shattered the dream about one-drop blood testing

The dream about home laboratories and the revolution of blood testing within reach was shattered by the ill-famed enterprise, Theranos, which had the best story in Silicon Valley for years. The world’s youngest inventor, a Stanford-dropout at 19 who framed herself as the female Steve Jobs, promised to revolutionize the dormant blood-testing market through a one-drop blood testing procedure.

In 2014, the company made headlines by raising more than 700 million dollars of capital – today its online space only signifies the start of the insolvency proceeding. Four years ago, Theranos was evaluated at 9 billion dollars and its founder and CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, was on the cover of The New York Times Style Magazine, Forbes, Fortune, or Inc., and made to the lists of top executives. Today, the press mainly reports about her pathological lying tendencies and how the FDA pulled the plug on Theranos. The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Holmes with “massive fraud”, she was fined $500,000, lost voting control of Theranos, was banned from being an officer or director of any public company for 10 years, and according to the latest news, faces up to 20 years in prison.

Source: www.wsj.com

2) Google Glass that didn’t have a clue what it was for

A couple of years ago, Google Glass seemed to be the most forward-looking technology of the tech titan, but it became an embarrassment. So much so that not only did Google stop selling it in January 2015, but a year later the company also erased all social media channels dedicated to the smart specs, once sold for 1,500 dollars. What happened with the technology once hailed as the object to revolutionize information processing and amalgamate glasses with technology?

First of all, there was no consensus among the creators what Google Glass should be used for or what problems it aims to solve. Without much input from the users, the product developers just assumed that the Glass’ hype would compel users to believe in the product and use it accordingly. Its two main functions allowed you to quickly take pictures or scroll through the internet, but with a two to three-hour battery life, there was no way the Google Glass could compete with faster processors and superior cameras that did not seem socially unacceptable to use and wear in public.

The tech giant did not give up entirely on the device, though. They are trying much harder to figure out in which industries the augmented reality gadget could be useful. For example, dozens of studies came out analyzing how healthcare could leverage on the Glass. We also wrote about the promise of Empowered Brain, a Google Glass-powered educational augmented reality tool that significantly decreased attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in autism patients.

Source: www.kqed.org

3) Organovo that dreamed too big regarding bioprinting

We had high expectations regarding Organovo. The San Diego-based company was founded in 2007 by the founders who are also behind Modern Meadow. It became the most well-known player in the field of bioprinting, actively developing a line of human tissues for use in medical research and drug discovery. These include both normal tissues and specially designed disease models. They are also working on the development of specific tissues for use in clinical patient care. In 2014, they announced the successful printing of liver tissues that functioned as a real liver for weeks. A year later, fully functional human kidney tubular tissues were generated with the company’s 3D bioprinter.

In December 2016, pre-clinical trial data showed that 3D bioprinted liver tissue had been successfully planted into lab-bred mice, and expectations were high about Organovo applying for FDA clearance within 3-5 years. Even we expected them to bring their innovation forward, but instead, a couple of weeks ago, they announced that they are 'seeking strategic alternatives' for their business as their liver tissue requires redevelopment. It turns out that bioprinting tissues represent such a huge technological challenge that Organovo couldn’t manifest in the last couple of years. The other issue might be regulation that’s lagging behind. At the end of last year, the FDA announced it is reviewing the regulatory issues related to the bioprinting of biological, cellular and tissue-based products to determine whether additional guidance is needed, although that would clearly be vital – not least from an investor’s point of view: as a ‘last resort’ to turn to for assurance that the technology is working.

Source: www.organovo.com

4) SCiO, the food scanner that bit off more than it could chew

Food scanners such as TellSpec and SCiO promised to solve the great puzzle of our modern lives: we have no idea what the food on our plate comes from.

However, while the Canadian company, TellSpec managed to develop a sensor that today can test for a variety of foods, including fruit quality and control (Brix, Acidity, and Waste), Vitamin C in fruits, melamine in baby formula, and as part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, they created an app to detect fish quality and fraud, the Israeli start-up, SCiO, a real Kickstarter sensation back in 2014, sort of disappeared from the scene.

It said to have developed a multifaceted sensor in order to identify the molecular content of foods, medicines, and even plants. The gadget is supposed to illuminate an object; optical sensors detect the reflected light, and the device analyzes it using an algorithm and a cloud-based database that is constantly updated. The company said that in milliseconds the ingredients and molecular make–up of the foodstuff would appear on the user’s smartphone. However, Kickstarter backers who received their product in recent years did not exactly receive what the demo had promised. After that, and a dispute with SCIO Health Analytics over the name, the company decided to shift from individual consumers to big companies – although their website doesn’t reflect that clearly. Could that be a nice rescue move or just a cover for complete failure? We don’t know yet.

Source: www.consumerphysics.com

5) Scanadu Scout, the failed medical tricorder

We have been waiting for the arrival of the medical tricorder since Dr. McCoy scanned a patient the first time in one of our favorite shows, Star Trek. When Scanadu Scout came out of the X Prize Foundation’s Qualcomm Tricorder competition, we were thrilled – and so was everyone else. It soon broke an Indiegogo record, raising more than $1.6 million in less than a month in 2014.

The Scanadu Scout, a handheld sensor held against a patient’s forehead, promised to measure heart rate, breathing rate, blood oxygenation percentage, body temperature, while taking readings of blood pressure, ECG, and stress levels. The company said it was also working on Scanadu Urine for home use, which would have given users data about liver, kidney, urinary tract, and metabolic functions. However, the FDA didn’t approve the medical device – which led to its ultimate demise. After the company ceased production of the device, in 2017, Scanadu also announced to its customers that it no longer operates support for the gadget either. Although the Scanadu died a premature death, the idea of the medical tricorder lives on – for example with the Viatom Checkme Pro device.

Source: www.digitaltrends.com

6) Contact lenses for detecting blood sugar in glucose, the unfeasible project

Back in 2014, Google submitted a patent to the US Patent & Trademark Office that described a digital, multi-sensor contact lens for also detecting blinking, with benefits like turning the page of an e-book with a “blink of an eye”. Later, more details about the idea emerged, revealing a much more transformative use for the contact lens – measuring blood glucose from tears. It was one of the most groundbreaking, futuristic, and promising projects in digital health.

However, in November 2018, it turned out irrevocably that the project for manufacturing these contact lenses had failed. Alphabet’s company, Verily Life Sciences halted one of its longest-running projects with this announcement. The company said that the reason for shutting down the initiative was that it couldn’t get the experimental lens, which measures glucose in tears, to deliver assessments of blood glucose with enough consistency to be used as a medical device. Although we somewhat expected the disappointing news as there was no word about the undertaking for months, we still had a pinch of hope around the research. All-in-all, the initiative proved to be too much science fiction to be realized.

Source: www.fortune.com

7) IBM Watson, an A.I. system with issues

For years, IBM Watson Health has been hailed as the future big data savior of healthcare – and doctors were waiting for the wonder to happen. A.I.-powered solutions, such as Watson for Oncology or Watson for Genomics were aimed at enhancing personalized medicine, medical imaging, cutting back on administration or helping medical facilities better leverage on data.

However, while the results of IBM Watson seemed to be great on paper, clinical evidence hasn’t followed so far to underpin it. Recently, the company even halted its sales of Watson A.I. for drug discovery and research. Moreover, in July 2019, Watson made headlines for offering potentially dangerous medical advice based on hypothetical patient data. That doesn’t sound reassuring, at all.

Lately, it seems that IBM is aiming for diversifying its healthcare portfolio and cutting back on its A.I. focus as a result of setbacks. In 2017, the MD Anderson Cancer Center broke up its partnership with IBM. The two had worked together since 2013, when MD Anderson stated it “is using the IBM Watson cognitive computing system for its mission to eradicate cancer.” But in late 2016, the project was put on hold and auditors at the University of Texas in a report said the project cost MD Anderson more than $62 million but didn’t meet its goals. In 2018, the company reported a round of layoffs at its Watson Health unit, and some employees were complaining about the marketing budget being large but scientific findings not materializing in products. That doesn’t mean that the technology won’t work in the future, it just means that they must focus more on technology, less on marketing, and streamline management. We are still hopeful to see a positive change around IBM Watson.

Source: www.time.com

As it is difficult to gain first-hand knowledge about digital health research and companies working usually behind ‘closed doors’, it takes time to separate the wheat from the chaff. As The Medical Futurist undertakes the role of the “voluntary policeman” or the guardian of the digital health galaxy to filter out companies with overhyped and oversold technologies and propagates the ones whose claims correlate with their actual achievements, we strive to shorten the time period needed to recognize the ‘big little bubbles’ in digital health.

Lately, we have been concerned about Google DeepMind Health, augmented reality company Magic Leap, and medical start-up, Forward, offering care programs as gyms offer their memberships. Their promises sound just too good to be true, so we’ll keep an eye on these and let you know whether their achievements match their slogans.

Dr. Bertalan Mesko, PhD is The Medical Futurist and Director of The Medical Futurist Institute analyzing how science fiction technologies can become reality in medicine and healthcare. As a geek physician with a PhD in genomics, he is a keynote speaker and an Amazon Top 100 author.

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