Digital health news, funding roundup in the prior week; May 9, 2022

DOJ investigating Cerebral; 1M US deaths from COVID; Luma Health partnered with Change Healthcare

Top Health News

• Best Buy announced an expansion into the health and wellness industry, with the inclusion of skin care technology at nearly 300 its stores and BestBuy.com. This collection features brands like Foreo, Vanity Planet, and PMD Beauty, as well as the latest from Therabody.
• The Department of Justice opened an investigation into mental health startup Cerebral over its prescribing of controlled substances, such as Adderall and Xanax. The company’s advertising and prescribing practices have been under scrutiny by medical professionals, regulators, and social media platforms, including ads on Meta and TikTok that linked ADHD to obesity. The company has paused its prescriptions for controlled substances for new patients.
• The U.S. surpassed 1 million Covid-19 deaths, 27 months after the country confirmed its first case of the virus. While deaths from Covid have slowed in recent weeks, about 360 people are still dying every day from the virus. The U.S. death toll is the world's highest; the second largest is Brazil, with just over 660,000 confirmed COVID deaths.
• Luma Health, a patient engagement platform, and Change Healthcare, a value-based healthcare system, announced a partnership to create new patient engagement solutions that connect every touchpoint across the patient journey. The two companies will develop solutions to meet health systems' demand for streamlined and unified clinical, operational, and financial journeys.
• CVS Health announced it is offering no-cost heart health screenings during National Women's Health Week, May 8 through May 14, at MinuteClinic locations to help women understand their risk for cardiovascular disease, which is the number one killer of women. 

M&A

• Universal Technical Institute, a provider of transportation and technical training programs, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Concorde Career Colleges, a provider of healthcare education programs focused on preparing students for successful professions in the healthcare sector
• Nicoya Lifesciences, a provider of digital proteomics solutions for diagnostics and biotherapeutic discovery, acquired LSK Technologies, a startup decentralizing laboratory testing
• Epicore Biosystems, developer of a sweat microfluidic sensing platform, acquired the assets and intellectual property of Eccrine Systems, a  wearable sensor company with aptamer-based sweat sensing technology utilized for precision medicine and adherence monitoring
• tangoRx Solutions, a company focused on serving organizations who provide care to vulnerable patient populations, acquired RPh Innovations, a 340B program management provider
• Skylight Health Group, a primary care management group, executed a definitive agreement to acquire NeighborMD, a provider of contracting, coding, quality and medical management services to clinics
• Xcelerate, a mMedTech development and healthcare delivery company, signed a purchase agreement to acquire a portfolio of patents, patents pending and technology licenses from HS Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturer and distributer of dermatological products for chronic wounds, burns and drug resistant infections
• CONMED Corporation, a medical technology company that provides surgical devices and equipment for minimally invasive procedures, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire In2Bones Global, developer, manufacturer, and distributor of medical devices for the treatment of disorders and injuries of the upper and lower extremities
• Physitrack, a company focused on the B2B wellness and virtual-first care markets, completed its acquisition of Champion Health, a workplace health platform based in the UK
• Prime Therapeutics, a pharmacy benefit manager, entered into a definitive agreement with Centene Corporation to acquire Magellan Rx Management, Magellan Health's pharmacy business
• Qualigen Therapeutics, a diversified life sciences company focused on developing treatments for adult and pediatric cancers, entered into definitive agreements to acquire a majority stake in NanoSynex, an Israeli-based developer of next generation diagnostics technology
• SeaStar Medical, a medical technology company developing extracorporeal therapies to reduce the consequences of excessive inflammation on vital organs, merged with LMF Acquisition Opportunities, a special purpose acquisition company

Funding Roundup

• Hello Heart, a digital therapeutic for cardiovascular care, raised $70 million
• Curebase, a dencentralized clinical trials platform, raised $40 million
• Element5, an Automation-as-a-Service solution purpose-built for post-acute care, raised $30 million
• Alan, a French digital health insurance company, raised €183 million
• Capable Health, a healthcare infrastructure company, raised $6 million
• Healthmap Solutions, a NCQA accredited kidney population health management company, raised $35 million
• GenWorks Health, an Indian digital health provider, raised ₹135 
• Sidekick Health, developer of a gamified digital care platform, raised $55 million
• Versono Medical, a medtech company for for endovascular surgery, raised €6.7 million
• Elastrin Therapeutics, a biotech developing novel therapies to reverse cardiovascular disease, raised $10 million
• Tubulis, which generates uniquely matched protein-drug conjugates through the combination of novel proprietary technologies and disease-specific biologic insight, raised €60 million
• XII Medical, a health technology company focused on the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, raised $30 million

(Image source: daytoday.health)