Digital health news, funding roundup in the prior week; April 11, 2022

Healthtech startups raised $6B; AmerisourceBergen's new fund; Guardant Health partnered with Epic

Top Health News

• Healthtech companies raised $6 billion in the first quarter of 2022. The number was down 17% from Q4, which may signal a correction in funding after two record years.
• AmerisourceBergen, a healthcare solutions company, established AB Health Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund that will invest in and partner with emerging healthcare startup companies working to transform healthcare for people and animals globally.
• GE Healthcare received FDA Approval of first-ever software to help automate anesthesia delivery and reduce greenhouse gas emissions during surgery. The company initially released the technology in Europe in 2010 and today, anesthesia providers use Et Control software to care for patients in over 100 countries.
• Senators announced a deal on a $10 billion coronavirus aid package to provide additional aid for domestic testing, vaccination and treatment efforts.The agreement requires at least $5 billion to be set aside for therapeutics and $750 million for research and clinical trials to prepare for future variants. The remaining funds will be used for vaccines and testing. It does not include $5 billion in funding for the global vaccination effort that had previously been proposed.
• Guardant Health, a precision oncology company, announced a partnership with electronic health record Epic to integrate the company’s portfolio of cancer tests with Epic. The company days will this make it easier for health systems, community healthcare providers and retail health clinics to make Guardant Health blood tests part of routine clinical care by providing direct ordering access and results delivery.
• Blue Shield of California and Walgreens Health announced they are expanding access to in-person and virtual care options through the launch of 12 new Walgreens Health Corner locations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County.

M&A

• Advocate Aurora Enterprises, which strategically invests in and acquires consumer health and wellness companies, acquired MobileHelp, a provider of remote patient monitoring capabilities and personal emergency response systems
• GrowthCurve Capital, a private equity firm, acquired Revecore, a provider of revenue integrity and complex claims solutions for health systems
• Novo Integrated Sciences, a company taking a holistic approach to patient-first health and wellness, completed its acquisition of Clinical Consultants International, a global consulting firm specializing in providing services for the pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare management, hospital management, medical marketing and strategic planning, health policy, and medical device sectors
• Real Chemistry, a health innovation company, acquired conversationHEALTH, a conversational artificial intelligence platform for the health care and life sciences industry
• Alira Health, a global health care advisory and technology company, acquired Sourcia, a full-service Contract Research Organization
• Bioventus, a provider of innovations for active healing, exercised its call option to acquire CartiHeal, a medical device company that develops implants for cartilage regeneration and bone remodeling
• Medline International B.V., a manufacturer and distributor of healthcare supplies in Europe, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of shares of ASID BONZ GmbH, a supplier of surgery, anesthesia, ward-supply and urology products to hospitals in Germany
• Recuro Health, an integrated digital health solutions company providing personalized benefits through its Digital Medical Home, acquired WellVia, a virtual health provider that remotely connects patients to board-certified physicians and behavioral health specialists
• Valo Health, a company transforming the drug discovery and development process using human-centric data and artificial intelligence computation, acquired TARA Biosystems, a cardiovascular disease biotechnology company
• Millennium Trust, a provider of retirement and financial services for employers, institutions, advisors, and individuals, signed a definitive agreement to acquire PayFlex, a provider of health savings accounts and consumer-directed benefit administration services, from CVS Health

Funding Roundup

• ProofPilot raised $12 million to digitize clinical research trials
• Intelligent nurse staffing company IntelyCare raised $115 million
• Season Health, a digital food pharmacy that combines meal prescriptions and delivery logistics, raised $34 million
• Clarify Health, a cloud analytics and value-based payments platform company, raised $150 million
• Doceree, a global network of physician-only platforms for programmatic messaging, raised $11 million
• BioVigil, an electronic hand hygiene monitoring company, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• Evernow, a telehealth company dedicated to using science to transform care for women in perimenopause and menopause, raised $28.5 million
• Alex Therapeutics, a Stockholm-based Digital Therapeutics company, raised €3.5 million
• Viz.ai, an AI-powered disease detection and care coordination platform, raised $100 million
• HealtheMed, a telemedicine company targeting Medicaid Special Needs Basic Care, raised $1.2 million
• Avi Medical, a data-driven healthcare provider, raised €50 million
• Eleos Health, a voice-to-insights technology that captures and digitizes behavioral health sessions, raised $20 million
• Karoo Health, a value-based cardiovascular care solution, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• Homecoming, the creator of patient engagement tools for psychedelic therapy, raised $4 million

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