Digital health news, funding roundup in the prior week; May 2, 2022

The majority of Americans have COVID antibodies; Philips and Prisma partner; uninsured rate falls

Top Health News

• Royal Philips and Prisma Health, South Carolina's largest non-profit healthcare system,  entered into a multi-year agreement to help Prisma achieve enterprise interoperability, standardize patient monitoring, and drive innovation in enterprise imaging solutions to enhance patient care and improve clinical performance.
• Data from the National Health Interview Survey shows that the uninsured rate
  for the U.S. population was 8.8 percent in Q4 2021, down 1.5 percentage points from 10.3 percent in Q4 2020. This reflects approximately 4.9 million people gaining health coverage since the end of 2020. Administrative data from late 2021 and early 2022 show a record-high number of people with coverage related to the ACA, with more than 35 million people estimated to be enrolled in the Medicaid expansion, Basic Health Program, or Marketplace coverage.
• The Alice L. Walton Foundation and Washington Regional Medical System announced a partnership to create a regional health system to improve health outcomes across Northwest Arkansas and beyond. The announcement follows the news last year of a joint initiative through the Alice L. Walton Foundation and Cleveland Clinic to identify ways to provide access to Cleveland Clinic’s renowned specialty care services in Northwest Arkansas. The Alice L. Walton Foundation and Washington Regional Medical System intend to work with Cleveland Clinic to support the growth of health care services in the region.
• Komodo Health, a company using real-world data and analytics in healthcare, and AppliedVR, a provider of therapeutic virtual reality for pain management, announced a new partnership. The company will use Komodo’s technology platform to further demonstrate the therapeutic impact of RelieVRx for patients living with chronic lower back pain. Using Komodo’s technology, AppliedVR will combine its insights with Komodo’s real-world data to conduct clinical research into the efficacy, cost savings, and health system value that RelieVRx delivers compared to traditional chronic pain treatment modalities.
• Promaxo, a medical imaging, robotics, and AI technology company, and Zepp Health, a  developer of smart health technology, announced a deepening of their commercial partnership, including sharing artificial intelligence resources, setting up new product manufacturing opportunities, and seeking China Food and Drug Administration regulatory approval. This also included Zepp making additional investments in Promaxo of an undisclosed amount.
• Walgreens Boots Alliance and VillageMD announced a goal to open more than 10 new Village Medical at Walgreens primary care practices in Massachusetts by the beginning of 2023. The first location is expected to open this May in Quincy followed by locations across the state including locations in the Boston area. With the Massachusetts openings, VillageMD and Walgreens will have opened more than 100 practices across 13 markets, including Arizona, Florida, Texas, Kentucky and Indiana. The companies are on track to open more than 200 practices by the end of 2022.
• Nearly 60% of adults and 75% of children have antibodies indicating that they've been infected with Covid-19, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From December 2021 to February 2022, the overall rate increased from 33.5% to 57.7%.

M&A

• Blue Goji, a health and wellness technology company that looks to gamify health, acquired the assets and intellectual property of fitness equipment provider Interactive Fitness Holdings
• Relevate Health, a Healthcare Professional omnichannel engagement platform, acquired ConneXion360, a Health System and HCP Recruitment Network
• Somatus, a value-based kidney care company, acquired strategic assets from Lumiata, a healthcare-specific AI platform
• Aatru Medical, a medical device company specializing in technology development in negative pressure wound therapy for surgical incisions and chronic wounds, acquired Exothermix, the inventor and supplier of the mode-of-action component in the NPSIMSTM incisional management negative pressure system
• An undisclosed medical device company acquired NIDO Surgical, a medical device company developing SEPIA, a solution for cardiac epicardial ablation
• MedHQ, a provider of human resources and financial management services to healthcare providers, acquired Becker Health, a provider of specialty nursing and allied talent acquisition solutions for the health care industry
• Cochlear, a medical device company that designs, manufactures, and supplies the Nucleus cochlear implant, acquired Oticon Medical, a hearing implant company
• Ingenovis Health, a healthcare workforce solutions company, acquired VISTA Staffing Solutions, a locum tenens healthcare staffing company
• Innovative MedTech, a provider of health and wellness services, signed a share exchange agreement to acquire RX Vitality, a media and finance advisory company
• HST Pathways, a provider of end-to-end software solutions for the ambulatory surgery industry, acquired Simplify ASC, a software company that offers a revenue cycle management solution
• Castle Biosciences, a company improving health through innovative tests that guide patient care, completed its acquisition of AltheaDx, a commercial-stage molecular diagnostics company specializing in the field of pharmacogenomics testing services that are focused on mental health
• Halo Collective, a vertically integrated cannabis company, signed a letter of intent and entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire Phytocann, a wellness CBD company
• Press Ganey, a database of patient, caregiver, and physician feedback, completed its acquisition of Forsta, a provider of market research, customer experience and employee experience technology

Funding Roundup

• Syllable raised $40 million to automate health system call centers
• Waltz Health launched with $35 million to lower the price of prescription drugs
• Frame Fertility launched with $2.8 million to make infertility a thing of the past
• Ruth Health raised $2.4 million to expand access to pregnancy care through telehealth
• Vivian Health, a healthcare jobs marketplace, raised $60 million
• Biofourmis, which uses machine learning, integrated technology and analytics to streamline connections between patients and care teams, raised $300 million
• Apryl, a fertility and family planning benefits platform, raised €4.1 million
• Ayu Health, a healthcare startup with a network of over 70 hospitals across India, raised $27 million
• Ictero Medical, a medical device startup developing a novel cryoablation system to treat high-risk patients with gallstone disease, raised $6 million
• HealthBeats, an end-to-end remote vitals monitoring solution, raised $3 million
• Signal 1, a health AI startup integrating AI-driven insights into hospital workflows to improve patient outcomes, launched with $10 million
• NotiSphere, a startup that directly connects suppliers to recall coordinators at healthcare organizations, raised $3.6 million
• CytoTronics, a biotechnology company building a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-powered drug discovery platform, raised $9.25 million

(Image source: clinicaltrialsarena.com)