Digital health news, funding roundup in the prior week; March 21, 2022

Google Health partnered with MEDITECH; NIH developed HIV mRNA vaccines; Illumina sued Guardant

Top Health News

• Genomics sequencing company Illumina sued cancer-screening company Guardant Health and its two founders, accusing them of stealing and profiting from its trade secrets. The company alleges that former Illumina employees Helmy Eltoukhy and AmirAli Talasaz took thousands of confidential documents from Illumina related to its gene-sequencing technology and used company secrets to obtain at least 35 patents.
• Google Health partnered with MEDITECH, an on-premise electronic health record system, for an integrated solution that will enable the use of Google Health’s search and summarization capabilities within the Expanse EHR.
• The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, launched a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating three experimental HIV vaccines based on a messenger RNA (mRNA) platform, a technology used in several approved COVID-19 vaccines
• According to the CDC, U.S. cigarette smoking dropped to a new all-time low in 2020, with 1 in 8 adults saying they were current smokers. A survey of more than 31,000 U.S. adults, found that 19 percent of Americans used at least one tobacco product in 2020, down from about 21 percent in 2019.
• COVID-19 infections China reached a two-year high, doubling from 1,337 to 3,507 in one day, causing a lockdown of least 11 cities and counties. At the same time infections in London rose by 50% in a week and South Korea reported record COVID deaths.

M&A

• Astute Imaging, a provider of imaging guided therapy and procedure planning services, acquired Dileny Technologies, a deep technology healthcare startup developing innovative artificial intelligence solutions for screening and diagnostic radiology workflow
• EMIS Group, a provider of connected healthcare software and services, acquired FourteenFish, a company that supports healthcare professionals with their continued professional development and ongoing industry learning
• Fullscript, a platform for personalized treatment planning wellness support, and supplements, acquired Emerson Ecologics, a health and wellness company that offers supplements, vitamins, and natural health products
• Vimian Group AB, a Sweden-based veterinary company, acquired the veterinary division of Avacta Group, a clinical stage oncology drug company
• PointClickCare Technologies, a healthcare technology platform enabling collaboration and access to real-time insights, closed the acquisition of Audacious Inquiry, a connected care platform
• ProPharma Group, a provider of regulatory, clinical and compliance services serving pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies, acquired M Squared Associates, a clinical, regulatory and quality consulting firm serving the medical device and diagnostic industry
• Hills Limited, the parent company of health tech provider Hills Health Solutions, a provider of nurse call and patient engagement systems, acquired connected care firm Extensia
• Glooko, a provider of remote patient monitoring and data management solutions for diabetes and related chronic conditions, acquired DIABNEXT, a digital health platform that helps people with diabetes better manage their conditions and connects to their healthcare providers
• TRC Healthcare, a platform for drug therapy information, acquired QURE Healthcare, a clinical measurement and quality improvement company
• Clarify Health, a cloud analytics and value-based payments platform company, acquired Embedded Healthcare, a behavior change platform company
• ScreenPro Security, a health screening solution, completed its acquisition of Add Biomedical, a biomedical screening company specializing in making solutions for disease diagnosis
• PsyBio, a biotechnology company developing psychoactive medicinal candidates targeting the potential treatment of mental health challenges, neurological disorders and other human health conditions, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Everest Pharma, a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
• Electromedical Products International, a medical device engineering and manufacturing company using cranial electrotherapy stimulation to treat mental health and pain disorders, acquired of Pulvinar Neuro, a medical device firm focused on the development of closed-loop and other novel neuromodulating brain stimulation solutions for the clinical treatment of various mental health disorders

Funding Roundup

• Canopy launched with $13 million for proactive cancer care
• Mental health chatbot Woebot raised $9.5 million from Bayer
• Nectar, an allergy care platform, raised $8 million
• Avive Solutions, developer of an intelligent AED and connected response platform for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest emergencies, raised $22 million
• BioCoach, a direct-to-consumer in-vitro diagnostic testing company, raised $4 million
• Vira Health, a company offering personalized digital therapeutics for women going through menopause, raised $12 million
• MedMe Health, a platform supporting pharmacy scheduling, documentation and management of clinical services , raised $2.7 million
• Apollo Neuro, makers of the first scientifically validated wearable that improves the body’s resilience to stress, raised $15 million
• Embold Health, am analytics company that measures and creates transparency around provider performance, raised $5 million
• AiM Medical Robotics, a developer of MRI-compatible intraoperative robotics for neurosurgery, raised $3.4 million
• House Rx, a health technology platform focused on improving affordability and patient access to specialty medications, raised $25 million
• Aptatek BioSciences, developer of in-home health monitoring solutions for patients with chronic disease, raised $4 million
• J2 Health, a company that enables healthcare organizations to optimize provider network performance, raised $4.5 million
• WearOptimo, developer of a Microwearable sensor that detects and alerts an individual to dehydration risk, raised an undisclosed amount of funding

(Image source: magazine.vitality.co.uk)