Digital health news, funding round up in the prior week; October 10, 2022

Digital health funding dropped; UnitedHealth bought Change Healthcare;

Top Health News

• Venture funding to digital health dropped 48% quarter-to-quarter in Q3 to just $2.2 billion. That makes it the smallest quarterly amount raised since $2.1 billion in Q4 of 2019, meaning digital health dollars are now officially back to where they were pre-pandemic. The total funding to date in 2022 is $12.6 billion across 458 deals through the first three quarters of the year, making it unlikely that it will reach even half of 2021’s record breaking $29.2 billion. The number of deals during the quarter fell to 125, only a 14% drop due to an increasing number of early stage deals. In fact, according to Rock Health's data, there were only six funding raises of Series C or higher during Q3, which accounted for less than 5% of the quarter’s total deal volume; for comparison, there were 32 such deals in Q1 and 19 in Q2. Deal sizes shrank in Q3 to the point that there were just two deals of $100 million or more, aka megadeals, for the whole quarter: AI-based heart health platform Cleerly, which raised $223 million; and Alma, a company that assists mental health providers with building their practices, which raised $130 million. That is in comparison to 18 megadeals in Q1, and 11 in Q2, for a total of 31 for this year so far; 2021; there were 88 deals of at least $100 million in 2021.
• Two doctors file lawsuit to stop Governor Gavin Newsom's Assembly Bill 2098. AB 2098, recently passed by both the State Assembly and State Senate, would qualify spreading COVID-19 misinformation as unprofessional conduct. The parameters for misinformation regarding the pandemic are widely debated, with studies continuing to contradict one another well into society’s recovery from the global crisis — especially in relation to vaccines. Read more.  
• Renee (formerly HeyRenee) officially launched. The company, which was founded by Nick Desai and Dr. Renee Dua, the married couple who previously co-founded at-home health service Heal, uses artificial intelligence to automate the care experience for seniors.  The service takes everything a doctor says to a patient and matrixes it against their insurance coverage, giving them a daily plan and reminders. For example, if a patient has 12 daily medications they need to take, they don't have to sit around and wonder which ones to take and how to take them; instead, Renee will send them a text with a picture of the pill that says, "Take this pill at this time with milk." The patient then just has to say, "Hey, Alexa, tell Renee I took my blood pressure medication," and that information will be recorded and sent to their doctor. The patients vitals will also be monitored, so if their blood pressure spikes, Renee will let their doctor know that either they're not taking their medications, or this particular medication isn't working for them.  Renee is not just automated; it also provides users an on-ramp, connecting patients to a human who can help them learn now to use the service. In the 45-minute long consultation, called a Personal Care Activation, all of the patient's necessary health background information, including current doctors, social determinants, health goals, existing issues/conditions, ongoing medications, and pharmacies, are captured in order to curate their concierge care experience.
• Mental health non-profit One Mind at Work, Columbia University Mental Health + Work Design Lab, and corporate ethical standards measurement company Ethisphere, introduced the Mental Health at Work Index, which will help employers both design, and then assess, mental health programs for their employees. Depending on the level or engagement, organizations get access to the services that include assessment that measures the maturity of their mental health programs and services; an auto-generated report with benchmarks so organizations can compare themselves with others around the world; access to an algorithm-driven advice library with recommendations and resources; expert review consultation; a summary report from expert consultation with guidance on prioritizing improvements; an independent maturity score generated through evaluation through interview and documentation review; organizational risk assessment; a custom priority action roadmap for improvement; a rapid improvement workshop; and 12 months of advisory support. The program is launching with nine organizations that make up its Founding Corporate Council: AXA, Asia & Africa; Aon; Bank of America; Business Group on Health; HCA Healthcare; MINDSET Care Limited; MINDSET Limited; LifeWorks; Prudential; and URAC. The plan is to make Mental Health at Work Index available in early 2023 following its current beta testing phase.
• A survey from CNN, in partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that 90% of adults said ​they believed there’s a mental health crisis in the US. When asked to rate the severity of six specific mental health concerns, the opioid epidemic topped the list, with more than two-thirds identifying it as a crisis rather than a problem. More than half of respondents also identified mental health issues among children and teenagers as a crisis, as well as severe mental illness in adults. About 50% of adults said  they have had a severe mental health crisis in their family, including in-person treatment for family members who were a threat to themselves or others, or family members who engaged in self-harming behaviors. At the same time, more than 20% describe their own mental health as only “fair” or “poor,” and the same percentage said they were often or always depressed or lonely over the past year. Those particularly hit hard by mental illness were adults under the age of 30, adults who identify as LGBTQ, and those with an annual income of less than $40,000. Yet, these same groups are also not being treated: nearly six out of 10 adults who say their mental health is only fair or poor also said they have not been able to get needed care, including about half of adults younger than 30 and LGBT adults.
• Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center and health information technology company Netsmart advanced their 30-year partnership by upgrading SEKMHC’s adoption of the CareFabric platform to enhance clinical, financial and operational efficiencies across the organization’s high-quality services and treatment programs. Netsmart is the leading technology partner for community mental health centers in the state of Kansas with 14 CMHCs leveraging the CareFabric suite of solutions. Through this collaboration, Netsmart will provide Southeast Kansas with the technology and tools designed to better deliver integrated care and support their transition to becoming a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic.
• Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health, a venture fund focused singularly on early-stage healthcare disruptors, is augmenting its support for healthcare startups with the launch of a new outpost in the San Francisco Bay Area. The division is led by Kunal Varshneya, M.D., Wavemaker 360’s newly appointed Associate. Expanding to the Bay Area has been a priority for Wavemaker 360 since its inception in 2018. The outpost will further the venture fund’s ability to source new seed-stage startups and elevate its national portfolio. On the heels of closing its Fund II at $64 million, the fund currently has $85MM+ assets under management (AUM) across two funds, and in less than four years has invested into 45 healthcare companies across the US, Canada, Europe and Singapore. One Fund II exit has already taken place, at an accelerated pace, with Carbon Health acquiring Alertive Health in October 2021.
• The United Way Association of South Carolina announced a new partnership with Unite Us, a company connecting health and social care, through which United Ways across South Carolina will leverage Unite Us' technology to securely send and receive referrals, and track outcomes in a person-centered model. This partnership helps usher in an era of value-based care in South Carolina. In collaboration with hospital systems, community health systems and healthcare agencies across the state, the partnership will connect the community support from United Ways across South Carolina with the reach and connection of the Unite Us Platform. It will also combine the SC 2-1-1 community and information referral systems with technology, to enable medical providers to connect patients to community resources that support better health outcomes through services and support.
• Kaiser Permanente added emotional support coaching from Ginger, nan on-demand mental health care solutions provider, to its growing mental health and addiction care ecosystem available to members. All eligible adult Kaiser Permanente members can now use their smartphone to connect with Ginger's emotional support coaches 24/7 — at no cost and with no referral or appointment needed. The confidential, one-on-one texting sessions provide support in coping with common challenges such as managing stress or getting better sleep. Kaiser Permanente members can text with a coach using the Ginger app for 90 days per year. After the 90 days, members can continue to access the other services available on the Ginger app for the remainder of the year at no cost.
• Ackuretta, manufacturer of high-precision 3D printing ecosystems for dental professionals, and QuickFi, a business equipment finance platform, announced a financing program through participating dealers in the USA to provide funding for the Ackuretta 3D printing ecosystem. Ackuretta equipment buyers may obtain nearly instant equipment loans from $5,000 and above. The QuickFi mobile application provides dental professionals with 24/7 self-service equipment financing.
• Essence SmartCare, provider of IoT-based advanced remote care solutions, announced its partnership with Medequip, a registered providers of social housing, to implement its Care@Home telecare services platform in social care and retirement facilities across England. The collaboration has seen Medequip begin to integrate Essence's entire Care@Home platform into social housing and sheltered accommodation facilities around the UK. It involves implementing both the Care@Home Family and Care@Home Pro services for intelligent emergency alerting based on seniors' activity. The advanced technology will enable local councils to provide improved services, including round-the-clock monitoring through the Medequip Connect monitoring and emergency response service.
• Medical group Desert Oasis Healthcare signed on to pilot Google Health's clinical software Care Studio. It marks Google Health's third provider partnership, and its first outpatient collaboration, for its clinician-facing search tool that harmonizes healthcare data from different sources. Starting next year, a small number of Desert Oasis Healthcare clinicians will test out Care Studio’s search and summarization capabilities that leverage artificial intelligence to bring context to physicians' clinical notes. The plan is to gradually expand the technology to more users over time, the organizations told Fierce Healthcare in an exclusive interview this week.
• miRecule, a developer of next-generation RNA therapeutics, announced a strategic collaboration and exclusive license agreement with Sanofi to develop and commercialize a best-in-class antibody-RNA conjugate for the treatment of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. The collaboration marks miRecule’s first licensing transaction leveraging its proprietary DREAmiR platform. The collaboration will combine miRecule’s anti-DUX4 RNA therapy (discovered through its proprietary DREAmiR platform) with Sanofi’s proprietary muscle-targeted NANOBODY technology to join the two molecules into an ARC utilizing miRecule’s NAVIgGator conjugation and formulation chemistry. The potential resulting best-in-class therapy may become a disease-modifying treatment that selectively targets and suppresses the underlying cause of FSHD in muscle tissue. This groundbreaking approach would enable FSHD patients to resume their normal course of aging free from the debilitating effects of this progressive disease.
• Direct-to-patient healthcare company Ro hopes to overcome some of those barriers by entering into a newly announced agreement with the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. Together they will create the "Registry for Equal Access to Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease," in which Ro will help identify potential patients who could participate in trials. Through this partnership, Ro will use its telehealth platform to screen and recruit patients who may be at an elevated risk for the disease to join a registry of potential participants in NIA-conducted and funded clinical trials. The goal is to also use Ro's technology to diversify recruitment.  Every step of recruitment, screening, and assessment can be completed over telemedicine, meaning it can be done in the comfort of patients’ homes and scheduled at their convenience.
• Memora Health, an intelligent, clinically validated care program for virtual care delivery and complex care management, today announced a partnership with Luma Health, a Patient Success Platform orchestrating all parts of the patient journey, to create a streamlined experience for patients across the many entry points of health systems. Memora Health delivers AI-backed, clinically-validated care programs, through dynamic and conversational two-way text, to reduce care team burden and improve patient outcomes. Luma’s platform enables healthcare organizations to unify operational, clinical, and financial journeys. The two digital health companies will help health systems increase patient access and ensure that patients are engaged and following their care plans to avoid care gaps. This partnership will be available to health systems nationally.
• Kaiser Permanente partnered with Credit Builders Alliance to increase access to rent reporting services and attempt to reduce the widening wealth gap in the U.S. Credit Builders Alliance provides training and consultation to community-based organizations that offer rent reporting. Over the next two years, Kaiser Permanente will provide $450,000 in grant funding to up to 80 organizations working with Credit Builders Alliance to offer rent reporting and other credit-building programs. The offerings will be available in California, Hawaii, Washington, Colorado, Georgia and Maryland.
• Elation Health, a clinical-first technology company powering innovation in primary care, announced a partnership with Galileo, a risk-bearing primary care group serving diverse and complex populations across 50 states. Through the Elation Health application programming interface, Galileo clinicians are now seamlessly able to automate and customize alerts at the point of care to maximize their value-based contracts. As the platform of choice for primary care innovators and a leader in value-based care, Elation's clinical-first approach means its API gives customers the ability to build proprietary applications that drive excellent cross-collaboration for clinical and operations teams to scale to more than one million daily API calls.
• TrialSpark, a technology platform that optimizes all aspects of clinical drug development, announced a new partnership with global pharmaceutical company Sanofi to explore novel methods of bringing new treatments to patients faster and more efficiently. The collaboration will focus on jointly pursuing the acquisition/in-licensing and development of best-in-class, clinical-stage Phase II and Phase III drug candidates in areas of high unmet patient need. The partnership aims to leverage Sanofi's global commercial expertise and TrialSpark's tech-enabled drug development capabilities, exploring new and innovative models of clinical development, such as behavioral intervention and digital technologies to achieve better patient outcomes.
• BD and The Ottawa Hospital formally announced a collaboration agreement that will improve the quality of patient care. TOH will integrate data and reporting to standardize and improve its services by using artificial intelligence and smart connected devices. The collaboration agreement between TOH and BD will specifically focus on four key areas: creating an organizational approach to ensure antimicrobials are used prudently and in only necessary ways to preserve their future effectiveness; developing clinical decision support tools that use artificial intelligence to enhance choices made by medical professionals; creating a strategy for medication management that works to support patients and caregivers during every step of the patient’s journey; and ensuring an integrated approach to chronic disease management for patients, families and staff.
• Google Cloud announced Medical Imaging Suite, a new industry solution that makes imaging healthcare data more accessible, interoperable and useful. Google Cloud enables the development of AI for imaging to support faster, more accurate diagnosis of images, increased productivity for healthcare workers, and improved care access and outcomes for patients. Google Cloud's ecosystem of delivery partners provides expert implementation of services for Medical Imaging Suite to help healthcare and life sciences organizations deploy at scale. These partners include CitiusTech, Deloitte, Omnigen, Slalom, and Quantiphi.
• Alimentiv, a CRO in gastroenterology, Satisfai Health, a developer of artificial intelligence solutions for gastroenterology, and Virgo Surgical Video Solutions, an endoscopy video capture technology company, announced a strategic partnership to revolutionize central reading, data capture, decision support, and patient recruitment in the clinical trial domain for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and allied GI conditions. Satisfai and Virgo,  will leverage their combined strengths to work in partnership with Alimentiv to realize the full potential of AI-powered precision imaging in the GI clinical trials space.
• Foothold Technology, a software provider for human services organizations, announced a new partnership with Skyward Health, a home health agency, This partnership will enable Skyward to oversee the Health Home care of 30,000 members across 15 counties in New York State.
• Net Health, a provider of specialty electronic health record platforms and analytic technologies, entered into an exclusive partnership with Alinea, a platform for rehabilitation providers, for its proprietary software platform, Net Health Therapy for Senior Living. Under the partnership, Alinea's workflow automation and patient and family engagement capabilities have been integrated into Net Health's platform, providing one of the most comprehensive technology solutions for senior living rehabilitation providers.
• LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a provider of healthcare data analytics and technology, announced the launch of the LexisNexis Gravitas Network, a fully interoperable real-world data hub powered by precise data linking technology and high-quality, de-identified datasets from strategic data partners. The first cohort of companies joining the network include premier datasets for precision medicine and health equity studies, and when paired with core data assets from LexisNexis Risk Solutions, the network enables more inclusive and advanced clinical research, ultimately improving health outcomes.
• HCA Healthcare, a healthcare provider, announced that it will give $1.5 million to Tennessee State University to create scholarship opportunities for students enrolled in the Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr. Institute and the Department of Computer Science within the College of Engineering. This gift is part of the organization’s larger commitment to give $10 million over three years to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions. Since making the pledge in 2021, HCA Healthcare has announced approximately $5.25 million in donations towards multiple partnerships.
• Mednow, a Canadian on-demand virtual pharmacy, was named the Preferred Pharmacy Partner for members of Aya, a provider of personalized benefits though health and wellness spending accounts. When they use Mednow, Aya’s Preferred Pharmacy, Aya plan members receive a discount on any prescription copayment amounts not covered by their employer’s insurance or direct billed drug benefit plan. By adding their prepaid Aya Mastercard to their Mednow account, members can bill any remainder to their healthcare spending account directly, eliminating the need to pay out of pocket and filing digital or paper claims.
• Cue Health, which enables people to manage their health through real-time, actionable, and connected health information, partnered with actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler to build awareness for its new Cue Care test-to-treatment service. With Cue Care, people who test positive for COVID-19 on any test, including antigen, can consult virtually and on-demand with a healthcare professional and easily access same-day prescription treatment delivered to their home all through the Cue Health App. Cue and Sigler are partnering to make a product donation of Cue Readers and Cue COVID-19 tests to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, a leading resource for people like Sigler who are living with MS in the U.S. With this donation, the organization will be able to provide lab-quality COVID-19 testing to members of the community in their own homes who otherwise could be putting their health at risk by venturing to doctors' offices and pharmacies.
• Discover Global Network, the payments brand of Discover, will facilitate payments for TYDEi’s new healthcare vendor management system, thereby digitizing and streamlining payments in an industry where 85 percent of healthcare purchasing is done manually via paper checks. This partnership will contribute to improved solutions addressing the nearly $40 billion in waste and inefficiencies associated with healthcare invoicing. TYDEi’s offers a solution for hospitals to connect with their suppliers. It reduces common frictions in hospital purchasing by moving the procurement process to a block-chain enabled platform that reduces costs and risks for hospitals. The partnership with Discover Global Network will enable TYDEi’s payments platform, offering hospitals a streamlined and secure way to pay for and track payment for supplies. Currently, Day Kimball Healthcare and Lighthouse Surgery Center use the TYDEi platform.
• Innovaccer, a health cloud company, announced the launch of Innovaccer Health Limited, based in Abu Dhabi Global Market, United Arab Emirates. Innovaccer, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, is establishing the new office to drive the company’s Middle Eastern business strategy and operations and help the region accelerate innovation and digital transformation by bringing Innovaccer’s industry-leading Health Cloud, Data Activation Platform, healthcare technology solutions, and deep expertise to local communities. ADIO will provide Innovaccer with financial and non-financial incentives to set up its new headquarters, which will support the region’s economic and employment growth, as Innovaccer builds a Middle Eastern team to support development, marketing, sales, implementations, customer support, and other operations throughout the region. Innovaccer is backed by Mubadala Investment Company, which led the technology company’s Series E funding round in December 2021.
• As part of its commitment to improving access to care worldwide and transforming care delivery, Siemens Healthineers has partnered with RAD-AID to support radiology education across African countries. The strategic partnership between RAD-AID and Siemens Healthineers focuses on providing access to affordable education; The program will ensure fast bridging of specific educational gaps in staff training for medical imaging equipment in low-resource settings in Ghana, Kenya & Tanzania.
• Body Vision Medical, an AI-driven, intraoperative imaging company, announced a new partnership with Business Asia Consultants, a sales, marketing and business development consulting company, as part of its international expansion strategy. BAC will apply its extensive European, Asian and Latin American market development expertise to assist Body Vision Medical in realizing its market expansion goals.
• You:Flourish, a wellness and behavioral health smartphone application designed specifically for the needs of the LGBTQ+ community, partnered with VXVY Mental Health, a company that is transforming the digital mental health industry by accelerating the development, adoption and commercialization of products. The partnership with VXVY accelerates You:Flourish's ability to effectively scale mental health solutions and get the app in the hands of anyone, anywhere, when they need it the most. Working with the VXVY team and public health, wellness and behavioral health professionals, You:Flourish app users will customize a peer support community with shared intersectional identities, establish wellness goals, track daily habits and earn rewards for engagement.
• Jasper Health, a digital guiding and navigation experience that improves the lives of individuals affected by cancer, and Scripps Research, an independent, nonprofit biomedical institute, entered a longstanding partnership with the goal of advancing the body of literature on improving the lives and outcomes of those affected by cancer. The partnership's research will be focused on the role of biometrics data in cancer patients and then more broadly, the effects of digital and human-led cancer care navigation and support on quality of life and longitudinal patient outcomes. Scientists at the Scripps Research Digital Trials Center will apply their expertise in informatics and machine learning to conduct analyses on de-identified patient data.
• The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer and Walgreens Boots Alliance announced the next phase of their partnership in support of the organisation’s E²RADIatE platform, the only radiation oncology platform in Europe. Over the past decade, WBA has supported EORTC in building and developing the SPECTA platform into the leading pan-European translational research infrastructure. During the next three years, WBA aims to raise €1.8 million in support of the E²RADIatE platform, aimed at defining optimal radiation oncology treatment strategies and interventions that can become the new standard of care for patients through the performance of clinical trials.
• Xevant, creator of real-time, automated analytics for pharmacy benefit organizations, partnered with DisclosedRx, a fully disclosed pharmacy benefit manager whose model prohibits it from receiving revenue from any source other than its clients. DisclosedRx provides claims processing oversight and active risk management of pharma spend, including mitigation strategies for specialty and high-cost brand medicines. By utilizing the power of Xevant’s core modules, DisclosedRx gains access to critical real-time insights, complete pharmacy claims data analyses, detailed plan reviews, and can identify specific client opportunities in a matter of minutes.
• Immunify.Life, a healthcare ecosystem secured by blockchain that is transforming the landscape of health management and data utilization in several countries across Africa, partnered with World Mobile, a blockchain-based mobile connectivity initiative, to help bring disconnected and underserved users in Africa online and active on the Immunify.Life healthcare platform. This partnership will allow Immunify.Life to expand its reach and provide its offerings and services to World Mobile’s service regions that are in dire need of them. There are approximately three billion people around the world who do not have internet access. Internet connectivity is a prerequisite for promoting economic freedom. While World Mobile aims to create a connected world that can enjoy the benefits of social collaboration, decentralized finance, and more, Immunify.Life provides services aimed at improving medical outcomes in countries that lack poor data collection and utilization. By partnering with World Mobile, both projects can advance their goals of bringing people online and helping them live healthier lives.
• Biospectal SA, a remote patient monitoring and biosensing software company, and Amref Health Africa, a health NGO in Africa, announced the launch of a Mobile Remote Patient Monitoring hypertension management pilot program in Kibera, Kenya, the largest informal settlement in Africa. The partnership will enable Biospectal to build upon the four independent World Health Organization validation studies it currently has in progress in South Africa, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Indonesia, and to scale the impact of Biospectal’s OptiBP smartphone-based, blood pressure solution across Africa.
• Health Karma, a company on a mission to raise the bar of the healthcare experience by empowering people to understand and manage their entire health care journey, entered into a partnership with CoreChoice, a specialty PPO network servicing union members, to provide its Health Karma Behavioral Health Care Management to its union clients through a Telemedicine platform. This partnership will make it easier for CoreChoice's Union clients to provide its members with access to much-needed behavioral health services from their homes through a dedicated Telemedicine platform. Union Members will gain access to a wide array of behavioral health providers and a technology platform that allows them to virtually select providers, schedule appointments, and have consultations in real-time by phone or video consultation day or night. CoreChoice is immediately rolling out Health Karma for Behavioral Health Care Management to its various union clients to provide access for behavioral health services to its members in October 2022.
• VetCV, an app that provides veterans and caregivers the ability to update, access, and share their vital information, selected Health Karma to drive greater access to care for US Veterans. VetCV will leverage Health Karma's unique membership model to provide its members with convenient and affordable access to care, whenever and wherever, while driving down overall healthcare costs.
• Regard, a software company developing an artificial intelligence co-pilot for physicians to help diagnose medical conditions, and Penn Highlands Healthcare, a community health system, announced their expanded partnership to bring Regard's software to physicians in additional hospitals as well as the intensive care units and skilled nursing facilities. Regard is helping Penn Highlands Healthcare solve these problems by streamlining physicians' clinical workflows and enabling them to easily access a patient's medical background in one, user-friendly interface. 
• Terebellum, the Ireland and UK-based subsidiary of AscellaHealth, a global healthcare and specialty pharmacy solutions company, announced a contractual partnership with NeurosolvTherapeutics, bringing its full suite of capabilities to support the launch of Perineline, a new patented two-part therapy for spinal cord injuries developed by NeurosolvTherapeutics that has now attained EMA Orphan Designation and is expected to revolutionize the therapeutic treatment and resulting end patient outcomes from spinal cord injuries. Terebellum’s services include strategic guidance in the pre-commercialization stage, market access expertise, and supply chain logistics including distribution and fulfillment.
• Ceiba Healthcare, a health technology company focused on improving patients care delivery and enabling better outcomes from hospital to home, partnered with MDI Medical, as its distributor and technical partner exclusively throughout Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. This makes Ceiba and MDI Medical the emerging leaders in virtual clinical care for health systems and providers in the country. MDI Medical works closely with hospitals to provide medical device and healthcare technology solutions across the full continuum of care. MDI Medical in partnership with Ceiba Health will sell the full strategic medical device integration platform and telehealth clinical care solutions to the Irish market.
• Medulance Healthcare, an emergency medical response service provider, launched a 5G- Smart connected ambulance in association with Reliance Jio, an Indian telecom operator. The vehicle is equipped with cameras and smart devices that allow real-time, two-way audio and video communication, high-definition footage transmission, ambulance location tracking, and real-time streaming of patient health data to a distant doctor over the high-speed 5G network. This helps in alerting the nearest hospital and staff to better manage the patient on arrival and save critical time. Medulance Healthcare ambulance connected with high speed 5 G aims to revolutionize the landscape of emergency healthcare in rural India by connecting an ambulance to a hospital, almost anywhere in the country.
• RealTime Software Solutions, a provider of software products for clinical trial research sites, site networks, sponsors and CROs to manage complex clinical research processes, partnered with Aspen Insights, an EMR-to-CTMS connection solution, to integrate an EMR/EHR patient identification technology into RealTime's Clinical Trial Management System. The integration between the companies will provide clinical research sites the ability to mine structured and unstructured EMR/EHR data for study feasibility analysis, practice population eligibility analysis, physician review and direct delivery of pre-qualified participants into RealTime-CTMS.
• Royal Philips entered an agreement with Shinagawa Healthcare Solutions Corporation, an eye care centers specializing in LASIK surgery, to provide multimodalities of imaging technologies from Philips at the start of the first quarter of 2023. Through this partnership, Philips will provide advanced precision diagnostics solutions to be installed for Shinagawa’s new Diagnostic and Preventive Care center. The integrated solutions include the Philips Ultrasound System 3300, the Philips MR 5300 and IntelliSpace Portal solution. The Philips MR 5300 will be the first helium-free MRI Technology installed in the Philippines.
• Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company partnered with Capital Blue Cross. Beginning this month, the Pennsylvania-based plan and MCCPDC will begin to let members and community organizations know about their collaboration and how they can access low-cost drugs, according to a press release. In 2023, Capital Blue Cross members will be able to use their insurance cards at the company's online pharmacy.
• Verv Technologies, an in-home health monitoring company, and McMaster University announced a new collaboration that will further develop Verv’s ground-breaking technology to improve at-home healthcare. A $314,000 investment from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada is allowing the partners to work together to develop a series of blood tests that have the potential to change how individuals manage their own healthcare. The NSERC funding will see the pre-clinical evaluation of a host of technologies that will allow the McMaster research team to validate and de-risk the technologies, which is a critical step in the commercialization process.
• Healthcare system Ochsner Health chose The Moran Group as their digital marketing agency. The two entities will work together with goals of reaching more patients and driving patient bookings in more cost-efficient manners, as well as, increasing awareness of Ochsner Health's brand as an integrated healthcare system with a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate.

M&A

• Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease, the group within AstraZeneca focused on rare diseases, entered a definitive agreement to acquire LogicBio Therapeutics, a genomic medicine company
• Francisco Partners, a global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology businesses, signed a definitive agreement to acquire bswift, a provider of benefits technology and services, from CVS Health
• UnitedHealth Group completed its acquisition of electronic data interchange clearinghouse Change Healthcare
• Enhabit, a home health and hospice provider, acquired Caring Hearts Hospice, a locally owned and operated hospice agency in Texas
• Mountain Health Network, a not-for-profit health delivery system, completed its acquisition of Pleasant Valley Hospital, a not-for-profit healthcare system that provides community-oriented healthcare
• Uniphar plc, a healthcare business focused on multinational pharmaceutical and med-tech manufacturers, acquired Inspired Health, a healthcare insights and intelligence consultancy
• Ginkgo Bioworks, a horizontal platform for cell programming, acquired Altar, a French biotechnology company that has developed a proprietary adaptive evolution platform
• Eurobio Scientific, an in vitro medical diagnostics and life sciences company, acquired  Genome Diagnostics BV, which specializes in the molecular diagnostics of transplants by HLA typing of organs or patients as part of the evaluation of compatibility between donors and recipients
• Medcare, a healthcare provider under the Aster DM Healthcare umbrella, acquired a 60 per cent share in Skin111 Clinics, which specialises in bespoke beauty, anti-ageing, aesthetic dermatology and general medicine
• Care Counseling, operates out of seven locations in the Twin Cities and virtually serves the entire state of Minnesota, acquired of Five Rivers Mental Health Clinic. 
• Pfizer completed its acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and delivery of life-changing treatments that provide hope to underserved patient communities starting with sickle cell disease
• One Community Healths, a nonprofit, Federally Qualified Health Center, acquired De Las Mías, a digital platform and mobile application designed by and for Latinas
• Addus HomeCare Corporation, a provider of home care services, acquired Apple Home Healthcare, which offers home health services for patients recovering from acute illnesses and procedures
• Patient Square Capital, a leading dedicated health care investment firm, completed its  acquisition of Hanger, a provider of orthotic and prosthetic patient care services and solutions
• AmplifyBio, a contract research organization focused on accelerating innovation across pharmaceutical modalities, acquired select assets from PACT Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company developing neoantigen-specific T cell receptor cell therapies
• Nordic Consulting, a global health and technology consulting company, acquired Hygeian, a healthcare consulting company
• Joylux, a provider of intimate health devices and products for menopausal women, acquired social-impact brand Mommy Matters
• OneTouch Health, an end-to-end care management system, acquired Tri.x, a care resources provider
• PatientPoint, a patient engagement platform, acquired Rendia, a provider of point-of-care content for eye care providers
• Prospect Medical Holdings, an independent physician association, entered into definitive agreements to acquire three Connecticut hospitals from real estate investment trust Medical Properties Trust
• Knowtion Health, a health revenue cycle management company, acquired Amplus, a healthcare revenue cycle A/R resolution and technology service
• TPG Capital, a private equity platform of alternative asset management firm, closed its acquisition of Convey Health Solutions Holdings, a healthcare technology and services company
• MedLife, a private medical services market in Romania, acquired 51% of shares in the Provita Group, which owns a multidisciplinary hospital, 3 polyclinics, 2 laboratories, 2 imaging centers, and a pain therapy training center.
• Select Medical, operators of critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and occupational health centers, announced plans to open a third inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Central Pennsylvania to serve the expanding needs of the West Shore region. The new freestanding hospital, in partnership with UPMC, will feature 35 private rooms and state-of-the-art rehabilitation equipment to treat patients recovering from stroke, spinal cord injury, brain injury, amputation, neurological disorders and orthopedic conditions. Targeting a 2023 opening, Select Medical will renovate an existing building located on UPMC's West Shore Campus on Technology Parkway in Mechanicsburg to expedite time to market.
• Palantir, builder of operating systems for the modern enterprise, and Concordance Healthcare Solutions, an independent healthcare distributor, announced a partnership to power the first, fully integrated medical supply chain ecosystem – bringing together inventory and supply chain data from manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and providers into one cohesive, real-time system. Those utilizing this new supply chain platform will have access to the ecosystem’s live inventory data and supply chain signals within an actionable interface – meaning complete line of sight and proactive signals into supply chain information at each stage, from production, to point-of-care.

Funding Roundup

• Sure Med Compliance, a platform that makes it safer for physicians to prescribe pain medications, raised $1 million
• Vincere Health, which combines clinical coaching, connected devices, and rewards for people who can prove they've cut down on their smoking habit, raised $1.75 million
• Sonara Health, a medication monitoring system that allows people to more safely consume methadone from home, raised $3 million
• Katalyst, an Electro Muscle Stimulation product for home use, raised $26 million
• Enterin, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel treatments for neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases, raised $6 million
• Doccla, a provider of virtual ward and patient monitoring technology, raised £15 million
• Sibylla Biotech, developer of software designed to apply algorithms and drug design protocols, raised €23 million
• Cellarity, a life sciences company founded to transform the way medicines are created, raised $121 million
• Acurable, developer of a device for detecting and monitoring obstructive sleep apnea at home, raised €11 million
• Nested Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering a next-generation precision medicine platform to address hard-to-treat cancers, raised $90 million
• Alleva, a company dedicated to providing software to the behavioral health industry, raised $12 million
• InStride Health, a provider of mental health treatment for children and adolescents struggling with moderate to severe anxiety and OCD, raised $26 million
• ClostraBio, which looks to transform intestinal health with a plug-and-play drug delivery platform, raised $4 million
• Transdermal Diagnostics, a company developing technology to monitor glucose levels non-invasively, raised £1.1 million
• Alivia, provider of a technology platform ensuring the accuracy of healthcare payments, raised an undisclosed amount of funding

(Image source: alariss.com)