Last Month in Digital Health (November)
Welcome to 6 Short Scrollable Sections>
1.Wearables | 2. Pharma Partnerships | 3. Big Tech Partnerships | 4. Digital Mental Health | 5. Other Interesting News | 6. Noteworthy Deals
1. Wearables
Devoted Health, Medicare Advantage plan says its the first to cover the Apple Watch as a benefit.
BMS & Pfizer announced they were collaborating on an early Atrial Fibrillation detection project through a partnership with Fitbit. The obvious motive is to increase AF diagnosis to drive prescriptions of their anticoagulant Eliquis. More Digital Wealth than Digital Health. This announcement was soon overshadowed by Google's proposed acquisition of Fitbit for $2.1 billion. With the Apple Watch so far ahead in this market is their a chance for Google? Yes I believe so. Google have a 'very relaxed' view on consumer data usage, and are aggressively pursuing patient 'data grabs' so if they can avoid a backlash, they are likely able to generate clinical insights faster than Apple... Interesting times
The Uni of Rochester is partnering with digital health co MC10 to use mHealth wearables in study to track lives of people with Parkinson's & Huntington's
2. Pharma Digital Health Partnerships
Novo Nordisk and Noom partner on digital health solutions for obesity
Abbott and Omada Health partner to offer integrated digital health and coaching experience for people with Type 2 diabetes
A Novartis digital partnership goes (un)Pear Shaped - it is cutting off its digital therapeutics commercialization partnership with Pear Therapeutics
3. Big Tech Digital Health Partnerships
Microsoft and Nuance are developing a clinical voice assistant
And Microsoft lands another healthcare partnership, this time with Humana to take care of aging seniors
Amazon makes its second digital health acquisition with Health Navigator, who offer digital health content middleware in the form of APIs used by Microsoft, MDLive and others
And Amazon and JPMorgan to roll out new health insurance plans as part of Haven joint venture
Cleveland Clinic & American Well partner to launch digital health company, called The Clinic, it will offer virtual care from Cleveland Clinic's experts through American Well's digital health technology platform.
4. Digital Mental Health
Brain stimulation headset maker Flow launches mental health chatbot
META launches digital mental health platform for college students, allowing them to select therapist based on language, gender, faith, therapy style (insurance plans accepted apparently)
New UK online platform 'Every Mind Matters' promotes mental health self-care The platform offers expert advice, practical tips & a personalized action plan to aid mental wellbeing
UK partnership with Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and SilverCloud Health sees over 300,000 receive mental health treatment
5. Interesting Digital Health News
Well the first 2 are more worrisome & sad rather than interesting, with algorithms in some cases mirroring prejudices and inequalities in our society
Black Lives Matter (just less) > New York is investigating UnitedHealth's use of a medical algorithm for steering black patients away from getting higher-quality care in favor of white patients.
'Calm down dear, you are just being hysterical'> its not a heart attack, GP app Babylon tells women, but tells men with the exact same symptoms it could actually be a heart attack
Hopefully transcending race and gender, RhythmNet uses AI to estimate your heart rate using your face
Brain cancer, has been detected by analyzing blood test results, using AI in combination with spectroscopy (by researchers at the University of Strathclyde)
Virtual reality can identify early Alzheimer’s disease better than current 'gold stand' cognitive tests, according to research at Cambridge University
Scientists demonstrate direct Brain-to-Brain communication in humans, a step towards an 'internet of human brains'
New graphene sensing system can detect early signs of foot ulcers before they form
Doctor launches the first online clinic dedicated to using common drugs, like Metformin, for a different purpose: to slow aging
And Facebook takes a first step into personal digital health with checkup reminder and screening tool
6. Noteworthy Digital Health Deals
Healx secures $56M in Series B financing, launches global accelerator programme for rare diseases
AI Medical Service raises $42.9M Series B for AI-based software that checks endoscopy scans for signs of cancer
Stroke-focused health AI company VIZ.AI lands $50M
Clarify Medical closes $18M Series A round to commercialize its connected home phototherapy system in the U.S.
Octave bags $11M Series A for in-person, virtual behavioral care
FeetMe raises €9.4M to advance gait and posture technology for patients with movement disorders
Femtech startup Inne takes the wraps off a hormone tracker and $8.8M in funding
BrainCheck just raised $8M to help busy doctors assess the cognitive health of 50 million seniors
Sleep Data raises $6M for digital platform BetterNight
BurstIQ raises $5.5M to bring blockchain to the healthcare space
Fertility test startup Natalist raises $5M seed round
FundamentalVR closes $5M Series A - for platform for training clinicians
NOCD's $4M Series A will help the behavior help platform expand its provider network