Digital health news, funding roundup in the prior week; March 7, 2022

Amazon and Teladoc partner; CDC estimates 140M people had COVID; CVS Health will enter the metaverse

Top Health News

• Amazon partnered with Teladoc so patients can call their doctor through through Amazon Alexa devices, including the Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show.
• DarioHealth, a digital health solution for chronic illness, entered into a multiyear, $30 million agreement with Sanofi. This will help accelerate commercial adoption of Dario's full suite of digital therapeutics and drive the expansion of digital health solutions on the Dario platform.  
• The White House asked Congress to allocate $22.5 billion for its COVID-19 response efforts, with the funding primarily going toward antiviral treatments and vaccine acquisition
• The CDC is estimating that 140 million Americans have had COVID, even though only 74.3 million cases have been reported as of the end of January
• CVS Health filed for a trademark to sell virtual goods, NFTs and provide healthcare services in the metaverse

M&A

• Ro acquired sperm testing company Dadi
• Constellation Software completed an agreement to acquire the net assets of Allscripts’ Hospitals and Large Physician Practices business segment, including the Sunrise, Paragon, Allscripts TouchWorks, Allscripts Opal and dbMotion solutions
• Thorne HealthTech, a developer of solutions for a personalized approach to health and wellbeing, acquired Nutrativa, a company that uses high-speed printing technology to provide healthier, environmentally superior alternatives to traditional beverages and gummies via dissolvable supplement discs
• Microsoft completed its acquisition of Nuance Communications, a company that provides conversational AI and ambient intelligence company across industries including healthcare, financial services, retail and telecommunications
• Forza, a health-tech wearable innovation company, completed its acquisition of Sustainable Origins, a company that recycles used cooking oil collected from restaurants, casinos, sporting arenas and food processing plants
• CPSI, a provider of healthcare solutions and services for community hospitals, acquired Healthcare Resource Group, a provider of customized revenue cycle management solutions and consulting services for hospitals and clinics
• Tunstall Healthcare, a provider of technology to support those requiring care and health intervention to live independently in their chosen home setting, acquired BeWo Unternehmensgruppe, a provider of software solutions, services, and technology for telehealth
• Dimagi, a developer of digital tools for health workers in remote areas, acquired SureAdhere, a Video Directly Observed Therapy software company
• Civica, a global software provider, acquired clinical e-scheduling platform Malinko

Funding Roundup

• Remote patient monitoring company Curv Health raised $5.1 million
• juli, which uses AI to help patients with chronic illness, raised $3.8 million 
• Health insurance startup Susu raised $1 million
• Health insurance claim assistance company ClaimBuddy raised $3 million
• SanoPass, which offers a platform for healthcare and fitness services and subscriptions, raised €3 million
• Kintsugi, a developer of smart mental healthcare infrastructure, raised $20 million
• CancerIQ, a platform powering early cancer detection and prevention, raised $14 million
• MX Labs, developer of AI-powered technology for healthcare services, raised $2 million dollars
• Specialty lab testing company Rupa Health raised $20 million
• Daybreak Health, a behavioral health startup that connects teens to therapists, raised $10 million
• Synapse Medicine, a medication intelligence platform, raised $28 million
• Exakt Health, a sports injury treatment app, raised $1.5 million
• MDClone, a healthcare data platform, raised $63 million
• Nayya Health, a benefits experience and healthcare management platform, raised $55 million
• Chefaa, an Egyptian patient-centred pharmacy benefits platform, raised an undisclosed amount of funding 

(Image source: thebluediamondgallery.com)