Digital health news, funding round up in the prior week; January 16, 2023

Monogram Health raised $375M; healthtech funding fell 48% in 2022; GE HealthCare bought IMACTIS

Top Health News

• Healthtech funding for 2022 fell almost 48% to $15.3 billion for the year, though that does still make it the second largest year on record, slightly higher than the $14.7 billion raised in 2020. The investments were made raised across 572 deals, down 22% from the 738 deals in 2021, for an average deal size of $27 million, down 33% from the $39.7 million deal size the prior year. On a quarterly basis, Q4 saw a 23% increase in funding from Q3, growing from $2.2 billion to $2.7 billion, but that was still less than half of the $7.4 billion in Q4 2021.
• Seattle Public Schools filed a lawsuit against a number of social media companies, alleging that they "design and operate their platforms in ways that exploit the psychology and neurophysiology of their users into spending more and more time on their platforms," while specifically targeting young people. Through this lawsuit, Seattle Public School are asking that the conduct that they are accusing the companies of engaging in be found to be a public nuisance under Washington law and that they be required to stop that behavior, while also being forced to pay for education and treatment for excessive and problematic use of social media, as well as damages.
• CirrusMD, a provider of on-demand virtual care, announced it will provide abortion referral services for pregnant people who need trusted, quality abortion care. This is the most recent initiative supporting the CirrusMD mission of expanding access to high quality care for all people, especially those who feel underserved by the US healthcare system. CirrusMD has partnered with Abortion On Demand to support pregnant people who need an abortion. AOD's platform is in full regulatory compliance, providing nationwide expertise and ensuring a board-certified physician is always available.
• Jaguar Health, Filament Health Corp. and One Small Planet announced the formation of a joint venture named Magdalena Biosciences to develop novel, natural prescription medicines derived from plants for mental health indications including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults. Initial funding of US$1,000,000 will be invested by Boulder, Colorado-based One Small Planet; this funding will be payable in quarterly installments in 2023 based on the achievement of defined milestones by Magdalena Biosciences. The goal of the collaboration is to extend the botanical drug development capabilities of Jaguar and Filament in order to develop pharmaceutical-grade, standardized drug candidates for mental health disorders, and to partner with a potential future licensee to develop and commercialize these novel plant-based drugs.
• Edifecs, a health information technology solutions company, and 3M Health Information Systems announced a collaboration to integrate their technologies to provide a unique solution for both payers and providers to accelerate the adoptions of value-based payment models. The combined solution helps overcome the barriers that have prevented more rapid adoption of alternative payment models by combining Edifecs’ VBP actuarially-driven templates and precision risk intelligence capabilities with 3M patient classification methodologies to pay providers and accurately measure healthcare quality. This advanced approach allows payers and risk-bearing providers to quantify the value of preventing negative events and allocate accountability across multiple providers, health systems, and payment arrangements.
• Omada Health, a virtual, integrated chronic care healthcare provider, and Castell, Intermountain Healthcare’s value-based care subsidiary, entered into a partnership that expands the access of Omada’s Diabetes Prevention Program and Diabetes Program to patients and caregivers receiving care from Intermountain Healthcare’s primary care providers within its Utah Medical Group. Castell will help to target and enroll eligible patients through their existing care pathways. Patients who have, or are at risk for, diabetes will be proactively contacted by Castell care coordinators and Intermountain providers to give them the option to enroll into the appropriate Omada program.
• Babylist, a vertical marketplace and commerce destination for baby, announced the launch of Babylist Health, a dedicated health business empowers growing families with easier, more transparent access to health and wellness products during pregnancy and postpartum, as well as when caring for a new baby. At launch, Babylist Health improves the process of ordering a breast pump through health insurance. It will support millions of mothers in their breastfeeding journey and return to work after having a baby. The long-term vision is to expand with additional health products and health and wellness services.
• Vori Health, a national, multidisciplinary medical practice focused on delivering best-in-class, evidence-based musculoskeletal and orthopedic care, announced a partnership with Allstate Benefits, a health and supplemental insurer. By leveraging Allstate Benefits proactive care model, hybrid network, and clinical navigation, Vori Health aims to dramatically improve accessibility and outcomes while lowering healthcare costs for businesses and their employees.
• SecureSeniorConnections, a digital health and wellness platform on a mission to empower seniors to live a healthier and happier life, announced a new partnership with Independent Health. Through this partnership, membership in the SecureSeniorConnection community is available to all Independent Health's Medicare Advantage members in Western New York. Independent Health and SecureSeniorConnections will collaborate to develop tailored activities, content and resources to empower older adults in Western New York to stay informed and engaged in their own health and wellness while learning from and sharing with others in the same phase of life.
• Inherent Biosciences, a company commercializing a diagnostic in the emerging biotech field of epigenetics, teamed up with Posterity Health, a virtual Male Fertility Center of Excellence that offers personalized care, educational resources, and effective treatments to address male fertility. Patients can order SpermQT and receive a virtual telehealth consultation from the male fertility specialists at Posterity Health so they can understand their test results and determine the best path forward. In addition, patients can order the comprehensive IUI Assessment which includes a semen analysis, SpermQT and telehealth consultation to predict the likelihood of success with intrauterine insemination.
• Great Speech, a virtual speech therapy company, partnered with Health Network One, a  specialty healthcare network management serving Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and commercial health plans, to provide in-network specialized speech therapy services to more than 5 million members nationwide. With a virtual care solution powered by a network of 200+ licensed therapists across the United States, Great Speech broadens the scope of Health Network One’s end-to-end specialty network solutions by delivering care to members anywhere and at any time.
• CareSpan Health announced that it has entered into an agreement to partner with CoachCare to provide medically-assisted remote patient monitoring to CoachCare patients. With this partnership, CoachCare will identify individuals enrolled in certain weight management programs who can benefit from increased medical supervision and can be referred to primary care providers in CareSpan's networks (American-Advanced Practice Network and American MedPsych). Providers in CareSpan's networks who prescribe RPM for existing patients will also now have access to CoachCare's RPM platform and services. The RPM services and products CoachCare supplies is intended to provide health insights which can be collected from a device worn by the patient, and with the assistance of an app, helps their care providers understand the real-time facts about their health.
• Quantum-Si announced that it entered into a partnership with Aviva Systems Biology, a leading provider of antibody, protein, and immunoassay reagent products with an extensive portfolio of over 20,000 antibodies against more than 15,000 human gene targets. This partnership seeks to co-develop protein enrichment kits to enable deep interrogation of proteins of interest and their variants (proteoforms) through protein sequencing. The co-developed products will include immunoprecipitation kits that fit into existing research workflows to conveniently enrich target proteins prior to amino acid mutation or post-translational modification (PTM) analysis with Quantum-Si’s PlatinumTM protein sequencing platform. This allows researchers to more efficiently and effectively uncover changes in proteins of interest and connect those changes to biological processes and disease.
• Trinity Life Sciences, a provider of life sciences solutions, and Havas Health & You, a health and wellness network and part of Havas Group, announced a strategic partnership that will allow both companies to offer cohesive end-to-end commercial solutions to the life sciences industry. The partnership includes Havas Health & You taking a minority investment in Trinity.
• WellSky, a health and community care technology company, announced it has partnered with Panoramic Health, an integrated value-based kidney care platform, to provide higher quality and more cost effective care to patients living with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease. Through its partnership with WellSky, Panoramic Health will gain access to a national connected network of acute and post-acute providers that use WellSky solutions for their transition of care workflows. This connectivity will empower Panoramic Health with powerful new capabilities to collaborate directly with hospital discharge planners to optimize the next site of care, proactively engage with CKD or ESRD patients before discharge, and receive real-time post-acute clinical data and alerts to support concurrent reviews and reduce unnecessary expenses.
• LiveCare Corp, a provider of virtual practice management tools for primary and specialty care providers, announced the launch of an artificial intelligence-enabled functionality that interprets care team conversations in real time in order to uncover insights that improve patient care, billing accuracy and clinician experiences. The AI-enabled tool is available as an embedded feature in LiveCare's platform and will allow health care organizations of all sizes to seamlessly harness these insights in order to automate documentation and improve the accuracy of billing.  To reflect the company's ongoing commitment to equipping clinics to operate on the cloud, LiveCare's virtual practice management platform functionality is coming together under a new brand called "Clinii."
• Owensboro Health and Optum announced a partnership to enhance patient care and experience while meeting the community’s evolving health care needs. Through the partnership, Owensboro Health revenue cycle management operations and information technology services will become part of Optum, providing new opportunities for team member growth and career advancement. Together, Owensboro Health and Optum will improve patient outcomes and safety, and deliver greater value through adoption of new technologies.
• ConcertAI, an oncology real-world evidence data and AI technology company, and Caris Life Sciences, a molecular science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning technology company developing solutions to revolutionize healthcare, announced a partnership to align the two companies' oncology capabilities. The collaboration creates one of the largest translational and clinical development research platforms aimed at supporting and accelerating biopharmaceutical drug development and novel therapeutic research.
• United Natural Products Alliance, an international trade association with expertise in legislative and regulatory issues for natural products, and Radicle Science, a Proof-as-a-Service company offering a path for non-pharmaceutical products to clinically prove their true effects beyond placebo, announced the launch of an innovative partnership enabling UNPA members priority access to join in Radicle's groundbreaking clinical trials as participants, furthering their synergistic missions.
• Overjet, a provider of dental artificial intelligence solutions for providers and payers, announced a partnership with DECA Dental Group, a dental support organization. The partnership brings Overjet's FDA-cleared dental AI software for decay detection, calculus detection, and bone loss quantification to DECA's coast-to-coast national brand, Ideal Dental.
• FrieslandCampina Ingredients, a healthy and functional ingredients company, announced a strategic partnership with specialist biotechnology company Triplebar Bio Inc. to develop and scale up the production of cell-based proteins using precision fermentation. The partnership reaffirms the commitment of both companies to develop innovative and futureproof protein solutions that improve human health.
• Navitus Health Solutions announced that they have chosen Banjo Health as their partner to modernize and streamline prior authorization workflows for plan sponsor and health plan clients, members, and prescribers. By implementing Banjo Health's advanced technology and expertise, Navitus will improve the efficiency and automation of their prior authorization process. These enhancements will create a better overall experience for prescribers and members while also meeting the requirements of proposed regulations designed to create more transparency around the prior authorization process.
• Floré by Sun Genomics, a full customized precision probiotic, announced its partnership with health, nutrition and bioscience investment firm DSM Venturing. Both companies, matched during the recent MassChallenge Switzerland Sustainable Food Solutions Challenge, are committed to the science behind probiotics and their role in improving the health and wellness of the global population.
• Theranica, a prescribed digital therapeutics company developing advanced neuromodulation devices for migraine and other pain conditions, announced a strategic license and supply agreement with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd., a global pharmaceutical company, for the exclusive marketing and distribution of FDA-approved Nerivio in India, subject to completion of the regulatory approval process in India. The Theranica and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories agreement will bring Nerivio to millions of people with migraine in India.
• Prokarium, a biopharmaceutical company in the oncology field of microbial immunotherapy, and Ginkgo Bioworks, which is building a platform for cell programming and biosecurity, announced a partnership to develop a bactofection platform to deliver RNA-based therapeutics. In collaboration with Prokarium, Ginkgo will aim to engineer a Salmonella-based bactofection platform for the delivery of RNA payloads to treat cancer patients, building on existing capabilities in RNA therapeutics, viral-based gene therapy and bacterial therapeutics.
• The Massachusetts AI and Technology Center for Connected Care in Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease, housed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, announced today the distribution of $1.7 million to its first seven pilot projects. The goal of the funding is to spur innovation at the intersection of AI, technology and aging. The selected Year 1 pilots include Sonde Health, VivoSense, and MindMics.
• BioIntellisence, which offers a continuous health monitoring and clinical intelligence platform, and care.ai, a provider of an ambient monitoring patient platform, announced a partnership to integrate their technologies, inserting BioIntelliSense’s vital sign trending data and algorithmic-based alerting into care.ai’s workflows. care.ai will integrate BioIntelliSense’s BioButton wearable devices and advanced analytics into the Command Center of its Smart Care Facility Platform. This provides healthcare facilities with a single, AI-powered solution that tracks patient vitals, automates repetitive tasks, continuously monitors patient rooms and simultaneously measures team performance to improve quality, safety and compliance.
• Cyber Dive, a company making the digital world safer and healthier for millions of children through tech-forward innovations, announced its new Aqua One smartphone is available for purchase. Aqua One is a smartphone that eliminate all barriers that have prevented parents from accessing their children’s digital activity, empowering them to comprehensively monitor their children’s health and safety online. With monitoring software designed by an ex-military intelligence officer and a Mental Health Check, this custom-built Android also bridges the gap between the digital world and its all-too-often damaging effect on children’s mental health.
• RxPreferred Benefits, a transparent Pharmacy Benefit Administrator, and Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs, PBC (Cost Plus Drugs), announced a new partnership focused on improving healthcare access and lowering drug spend. With this venture, employers and their members utilizing RxPreferred for their pharmacy benefit will have access to all medications available through Cost Plus Drugs within their benefits package, with future plans to expand this offering along with local independent pharmacies.
• Hinge Health, a musculoskeletal solution, expanded its clinical capabilities with the launch of a physical therapy house call service. Starting in Chicago, followed by a nationwide rollout, it will be the nation’s first fully integrated model for musculoskeletal health that combines digital with in-person care. The introduction of house calls exemplifies the company’s vision of creating a health care system built around each person’s needs.
• DreaMed Diabetes, a developer of AI-based diabetes care solutions, partnered with Yale New Haven Health System Center for Health Care Innovation and successfully deployed DreaMed’s endo.digital clinical decision support system as a fully integrated component of Northeast Medical Group’s (NEMG) EMR workflow. NEMG, is a not-for-profit, multispecialty medical foundation and part of YNHHS. This achievement is the first time in the industry that a diabetes clinical decision support system has been deployed as an integrated component of the patients’ electronic medical records, which allows all providers in the patients’ care continuum to provide expert-level diabetes care.
• Signify Health, a healthcare platform that leverages advanced analytics, technology and nationwide healthcare networks to create and power value-based payment programs, announced a new collaboration with Prospect Medical Holdings, a healthcare services company with 16 hospitals serving underserved communities in four states. In 2023, Prospect’s Waterbury HEALTH and Eastern Connecticut Health Network facilities and their affiliated provider network in Connecticut will participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program by joining a Signify-enabled accountable care organization (ACO) to enhance care transformation, manage risk and provide high-quality, coordinated patient care for its traditional Medicare fee-for-service patients.
• Mednow, an on-demand virtual pharmacy, expanded its suite of services to its at-home Medvisit and other patients. Medvisit’s expanded suite of services includes an at-home medication review program for patients who are not physically able to attend a community pharmacy. The addition of the at-home medication review program, conducted by our team of licensed traveling pharmacists, allows the physician who will see the patient afterwards to focus on treating the patient and not on performing a medication history. Pharmacists are experts in drug therapy and can help as part of the medical team to make processes more efficient. The service is covered for eligible and consenting patients by the Ontario Drug Benefits Program. It is an example of non-dispensing related revenue available to pharmacies in Canada’s largest province.
• Solid Biosciences, a life sciences company developing genetic medicines for neuromuscular and cardiac diseases, and Phlox Therapeutics, a biotech company pioneering a novel approach to gene therapies to alleviate and cure cardiomyopathies, announced a strategic collaboration focused on genetic cardiac diseases. The research collaboration will target a severe form of genetic dilated cardiomyopathy for which there is currently a significant unmet need for effective treatments. The strategic collaboration will integrate Solid Biosciences’ vector biology, manufacturing capabilities and drug development experience with Phlox’s deep expertise in genetic cardiomyopathies and RNA therapeutics. The companies will collaborate to develop novel precision genetic medicines for this form of DCM.
• EOFlow, a provider of wearable drug delivery systems, and Diabeloop, a provider of diabetes automated treatment solutions, announced their partnership. The agreements aim to provide patients with convenient access to EOFlow's EOPatch system combined with automated insulin delivery. EOFlow and Diabeloop announced that they have partnered to bring an AID system, connecting EOFlow's wearable insulin pump EOPatch, a third-party continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device and Diabeloop's automated insulin delivery (AID) algorithm integrated in the Diabeloop's smartphone app, currently in development. The Companies also plan to integrate the EOPatch insulin pump into the DBLG1 System of Diabeloop, integrating the algorithm in a dedicated handset.
• OPTT Health, an AI-enabled mental healthcare provider, announced a partnership with Utah-based voice AI specialist Canary Speech. The partnership will allow OPTT's groundbreaking AI mental healthcare toolbox to increase its useability for patients, by allowing them to interact with the service exclusively by using their voices. The company hopes this will make the patient experience even more seamless and user-friendly which is important for it to be used for long-term monitoring purposes.
• DocGo, a provider of last-mile mobile health services, announced a partnership with Redirect Health, a platform that creates and manages healthcare solutions for businesses and employees nationwide, to provide on-demand, urgent mobile care to patients in New Jersey and New York. Through Redirect Health’s referral team, DocGo On-Demand mobile services are called into action, preventing potential emergency room visits and ultimately lowering costs while facilitating high-quality patient care. The partnership will enable DocGo to provide its rapid, in-home mobile health services to thousands of Redirect Health’s members across New Jersey and New York.
• Owensboro Health and Optum announced a partnership to enhance patient care and experience while meeting the community’s evolving health care needs. Through the partnership, Owensboro Health revenue cycle management operations and information technology services will become part of Optum, providing new opportunities for team member growth and career advancement. Together, Owensboro Health and Optum will improve patient outcomes and safety, and deliver greater value through adoption of new technologies.
• AtlantiCare, an integrated healthcare system, and Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the nation’s first historically black college or university, are enhancing their partnership aimed at expanding student learning and career opportunities. They also also aim to create a more diversified workforce and to achieve greater health equity in communities across the region and healthcare in general.
• McLeod Health announced a partnership with Wesmark Ambulatory Surgery Center to further expand the hospital systems reach and jointly offer exceptional multi-specialty ambulatory surgery services for the Sumter community. This alignment will ensure the future growth of specialty care and medical expertise offered to the midlands and beyond. This advanced multidisciplinary surgery center is equipped with the latest technology, along with two operating rooms, four procedure rooms, and 17 pre- and post-operative recovery rooms. The partnership was completed December 30, 2022, and they began serving patients January 3, 2023.
• PanGenomic Health announced that its subsidiary, PlantGx Diagnostics Corp., signed a development partnership agreement with LumiQuick Diagnostics, Inc., a Santa Clara-based medical device company ("LumiQuick "). The two companies are jointly developing targeted biomarker diagnostics to help patients undergoing alternative medicine therapy objectively track the efficacy of their treatment.
• Sensato, which offers cybersecurity for hospitals and other health care organizations, announced it is now part of CloudWave. Sensato takes a holistic approach to cybersecurity by helping health care organizations comply, detect, and respond to cybersecurity risks and threats, providing solutions designed specifically for the unique challenges of health care information technology. Together with CloudWave, the partnership will bring together leading-edge cloud hosting services and managed cybersecurity-as-a-service to provide a seamless, enhanced experience to hospitals and health care organizations. See this press release for more information.
• Eleos Health, provider if CareOps Automation for behavioral health, and Jefferson County Human Services announced a partnership where Eleos Health's augmented intelligence will reduce time spent on administrative tasks and documentation, opening up availability for more face-to-face communication with Jefferson County's patients. Eleos will be used alongside the Jefferson County Human Services electronic health records system, providing valuable insights and documentation assistance for therapists. Jefferson is the first county in Wisconsin to adopt Eleos into its therapists' workflows.
• Southeast Primary Care Partners, a primary care-focused management services organization dedicated to achieving true value-based care everywhere, announced its expansion into Alabama and a new practice partnership with Dr. Brian Ingram and Ladiga Medical, LLC. Ladiga Medical, a primary care practice, has served the community of Jacksonville, Alabama since 2004. The practice, founded by Dr. Ingram, M.D. and Dr. Yates, M.D., is dedicated to the health and well-being of residents of the Piedmont region.
• 1health.io, a software company that empowers diagnostic laboratories to expand their testing in both the clinical and the direct-to-consumer markets rapidly and securely, partnered with Inspire Wellness@Home to bring health and wellness tests, such as inflammation, sleep and stress to heart health and thyroid to the broader direct to consumer market. The new partnership between 1health and Inspire Wellness@Home enables Inspire to sell its innovative new health and wellness tests into the $1 billion direct-to-consumer lab testing market.
• Oi announced a partnership with Docway, a company of the SulAmérica group, to offer telemedicine services across the country to Oi Fibra customers. With more than 4,000 registered doctors, the Digital Emergency Service is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in addition to having 25 medical specialties and telepsychology by appointment. The plan includes unlimited consultations for R$ 19.90 per month.
• MDsave, an online healthcare services platform connecting providers, employers, and patients to transparent, transactable, and quality healthcare, announced a new exclusive partnership with ViewFi Health. ViewFi Health is a virtual orthopedic practice. ViewFi Health offers personalized and hyper-accurate orthopedic and musculoskeletal care while reducing costs, streamlining the path to recovery, and prioritizing improved patient outcomes – all virtually. ViewFi Health acts as the front door to orthopedic and MSK care, offering a convenient and easy way for patients to receive the same level of high-quality care as an in-person visit with an orthopedic surgeon, but from the comfort of their home. ViewFi streamlines the care experience and helps patients receive the correct diagnosis and plan of care faster than ever before so they can return to a pain-free life as fast as possible.
• Middletown Medical and Honest Medical Group announced a joint venture partnership in the Hudson Valley of New York state. This new partnership aims to improve clinical outcomes, slow disease progression, and improve the quality of life for patients with Medicare. Together, the organizations will focus on value-based, whole-person-centric care for seniors. The collaboration offers clinical and financial resources, as well as technology and data, to empower Middletown's physicians to provide quality services to patients when and where they need them. With help from Honest, physicians can focus more on the unique needs of their patients and deliver custom care supporting physical, behavioral, emotional, and social needs.
• Dentulu, a teledentistry network, partnered with Pearl to enable Dentulu’s Teledentists to achieve the highest level of diagnostic performance while elevating the patient experience with the most powerful AI-backed dental software on the market. Pearl’s Second Opinion® is the only clinical AI software with regulatory clearance as a patient-facing radiologic aid to dentists for detection of numerous dental conditions. Dentulu users will be able to apply the full range of Second Opinion capabilities across the imagery they capture, upload, and store on Dentulu.
• Riverside Oral Surgery and Oral Surgery Group announced the formation of a strategic partnership that will result in the preeminent surgeon-lead full-scope oral and maxillofacial surgical specialty platform in the Northeast. The partnership, backed by MedEquity Capital, RF Investment Partners, and Kian Capital, is dedicated to building the region's first OMS-only specialty platform where a premium is placed on surgeon autonomy, independent practice identity, and clinical excellence. The two groups will come together to form an expanded network of 13 locations, 20 surgeons, and a comprehensive portfolio of surgical services and sub-specialty level care provided by fellowship trained, board-certified clinicians, allowing us to offer a comprehensive and diverse approach to oral health care. The partnership will create an unparalleled patient experience while maintaining our independence.
• Juniper Biologics, a science-led healthcare company focused on commercialising novel therapies, has been granted distribution rights for Caris Life Sciences' molecular profiling services in South East Asia. Caris is the leading molecular science and technology company actively developing and delivering innovative solutions to revolutionize healthcare. The company’s suite of market-leading molecular profiling offerings assess DNA, RNA and proteins to reveal a molecular blueprint that helps patients, physicians and researchers better detect, diagnose and treat patients.
• WELL Health, a company focused on positively impacting health outcomes by leveraging technology to empower healthcare providers and their patients globally, announced it has partnered with ORX Surgical, Tali AI, and Simon Fraser University to transform healthcare data into actionable insights through a Digital Technology Supercluster project called Health Compass. WELL and its internal several subsidiaries participating in the project (AwareMD, OSCAR Pro, Intrahealth, Ocean, Doctorcare, apps.health) have secured $3 mllion in co-investment funding from DTS to support WELL's platform which will be used to pilot the Health Compass project. More specifically, the project will leverage and build upon WELL's open and FHIR-based apps.health ecosystem to seamlessly integrate the Health Compass capabilities into the EMR. The funding will also be used enhance the ability for digital health innovations to interoperate with EMRs and make it easier for providers to augment their EMR with the latest innovations in healthcare technology.  The project will also be leveraging WELL's large physical clinical footprint and provider base to pilot and inform the capabilities for the project.
• Reliq Health Technologies. a global healthcare technology company that develops innovative Virtual Care solutions for the healthcare market, announced that it signed new contracts with three multi-physician clinics in North Texas and five physician practices that provide care to patients in California and Nevada. The contracts are expected to add at least 5,000 new patients to Reliq’s iUGO Care platform over the next two quarters.
• California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a lawsuit against the nation's largest insulin makers and pharmacy benefit managers for driving up the cost of the lifesaving drug through unlawful, unfair, and deceptive business practices in violation of California's Unfair Competition Law. In the U.S., insulin is so expensive that many diabetics struggle to afford it even when covered by health plans, and are forced to ration their use — sometimes with deadly consequences. More than 3 million adults in California — over 10% of the state’s adult population — have been diagnosed with diabetes. The lawsuit alleges manufacturers Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi, and pharmacy benefit managers CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx, have leveraged their market power to overcharge patients. A 2021 report found that insulin costs roughly ten times more within the United States than outside it.
• Transcarent, a health and care experience company that makes it easy to access high quality, affordable care, and aligns with the companies who pay for care, announced a new collaboration with The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic that enables Transcarent Members and their families to access The Clinic’s expert second opinions. Transcarent Members can easily leverage Cleveland Clinic’s world-renowned specialists for a personalized care evaluation and coordinated follow-up as a Transcarent benefit, all in one seamless experience. By partnering with The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic, Transcarent Members will have virtual access to Cleveland Clinic’s 3,500 world-renowned expert specialists. Through The Clinic’s Virtual Expert Second Opinions program, an expert physician thoroughly reviews a Member’s diagnosis and/or treatment plan and provides a personalized second opinion. Seventy-two percent of expert opinions uncover potential diagnosis changes or treatment plan modifications, which can help Members become more informed about their health and confident in their care while better controlling medical costs.
• As part of its efforts to support emerging biotechnology companies with addressing key challenges of bringing new therapies to market, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced it has become a founding sponsor of Momentum Labs in Alachua, Fla. Momentum Labs will serve as a collaborative laboratory and office space for growing biotech businesses in the greater Gainesville region. The venture is spearheaded by Concept Companies, a national real estate development firm headquartered in Gainesville.
• CoachCare, a remote patient monitoring and virtual health company, and CareSpan Health, a Clinic-in-the-Cloud digital health company transforming the provider-patient relationship, announced a partnership to provide medically-assisted remote patient monitoring to over 2,000 CareSpan and CoachCare patients annually. The technologies were built to serve the needs of clinical staff who support the health and accountability of hundreds of thousands of patients annually and to function as a business tool for providers to increase their patient and practice health outcomes.
• The XFL announced it selected Ryzer Mindset as its Official Mindset Testing Partner. Ryzer’s reporting and suite of mindset tools will help the XFL prioritize both the mental performance and mental well-being of players while also helping coaches better understand their athletes to optimize training and reach peak performance. As part of this agreement, all XFL players will take Ryzer Mindset’s proprietary Troutwine Athletic Profile (TAP), an athletic mindset assessment that measures the traits important to achieving athletic success. Upon TAP completion, (i) Players receive reporting that analyzes their mental traits, provides personalized sports psychologist guidance and a development plan to help them reach their full potential; and (ii) Coaches receive reporting that provides tips, techniques, and guidance on how to most effectively coach each player based upon their unique mindset.The TAP was predictively validated by the US Navy SEALs and has been in use continually in the NFL® since 1984 to aid teams in scouting prospective players’ mental makeup.

M&A

• Kaufman, Hall & Associates, a healthcare and higher education management consulting and advisory services firm, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Gist Healthcare, a healthcare consulting firm
• Amplify Health, a pan-Asian integrated health technology solutions joint venture between AIA Group Limited and Discovery Group Limited, acquired AiDA Technologies, a provider of artificial intelligence solutions to companies in Asia Pacific
• Zimmer Biomet Holdings, which designs, manufactures and markets solutions that support orthopaedic surgeons and clinicians in restoring mobility, acquired Embody, a medical device company focused on soft tissue healing
• LeanTaaS, aprovider of AI-powered and SaaS-based capacity management and patient flow software for health systems, acquired Hospital IQ, a provider of intelligent automation solutions for hospitals
• GE HealthCare entered into an agreement to acquire IMACTIS, a company in the field of computed tomography interventional guidance
• Bellin Health System, an integrated health care delivery system, signed an agreement to acquire the PURE EP System from BioSig Technologies, a digital signal processing technology company delivering accuracy and precision to intracardiac signal visualization
• TSOLife, a provider of an artificial intelligence-based platform for senior living communities, acquired Fit Minds, a brain fitness and cognitive training program provider
• PMQ Investors, the parent company of Avita, a national health care services organization committed to providing comprehensive, compassionate, and inclusive health care solutions to underserved communities, acquired Q Care Plus, a community-focused care management solution
• AstraZeneca entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CinCor Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel treatments for resistant and uncontrolled hypertension as well as chronic kidney disease
• Huma Therapeutics, a remote patient monitoring platform, acquired Alcedis GmbH, a provider of data driven clinical research and technology
• Alpine Investors, a people-driven private equity fund, acquired Medusind, a provider of revenue cycle management services to the healthcare industry
• OpenLoop Health, a provider of white-label telehealth support services, acquired Reliant.MD's practice group
• BioNTech, a German pharma giant, acquired artificial intelligence firm InstaDeep
• MetAlert, a provider of location sensitive health monitoring devices and wearable technology products for remote patient monitoring, signed a Heads of Terms to acquire TrakTec, a location awareness technology company
• Velsera, a precision engine company connecting healthcare and life sciences companies, acquired clinical genomics technology and services provider Pierian, biomedical data company Seven Bridges, and diagnostic platform UgenTec

Funding Roundup 

• Array Behavioral Care, a telepsychiatry provider, raised $25 million 
• Carbon Health, a hybrid healthcare company that combines expert care with proprietary technology for easy everyday health, raised $100 million
• Nest, a solution designed to help health systems, clinics, pharmaceutical companies, and payors launch and scale longitudinal genomic programs, raised $8.5 million
• Qritive, a Singapore-based healthcare AI startup, raised $7.5 million
• Paytient, a provider of Health Payment Accounts, raised $40.5 million
• Alira Health, a global healthcare advisory, clinical research and technology company, raised $58 million
• Holmusk, a behavioral health real-world evidence and data analytics company, raised $45 million
• Atommerce, the operator of South Korean mental healthcare platform Mind Cafe, raised $4.8 million
• ReferWell, a digital health company focused on leveraging the referable momentSM, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• Lapsi Health, a developer of sound-based medical technology to empower clinicians at the point of care and to enhance remote consultations, raised $3.5 million
• QV Bioelectronics, a medical device startup developing a electric field therapy implant to treat the most common and aggressive types of brain tumors, raised £2 million
• Sena Health, which partners with hospitals, payers, and medical groups to enable hospital-level care in patients' homes, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• ModifyHealth, a food as medicine platform and provider of medically tailored meals, raised $10 million
• Censinet, a provider of healthcare risk management solutions, raised $9 million
• CARI Health, a wearable remote medication monitoring company, raised $2.3 million
• Salad, a solution to manage hormonal health, raised around $270,000
• LinusBio, a provider of precision exposome sequencing, raised over $16 million
• BIOHM, a microbiome company utilizing microbiome data to create new products and ingredients to help individuals live healthier lives, raised $7.5 million
• ShiftKey, a healthcare staffing technology company, raised $300 million
• Nest Genomics, a solution for implementing genomic programs at scale, raised $8.5 million
• Inflow, which uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy based support to help members better manage their ADHD, raised $11 million
• Telesair, a respiratory care company, raised $22 million
• HVR Cardio, a clinical stage medical technology company developing Structural Heart cardiovascular products for transcatheter mitral valve repair, raised $11.1 million
• Gytree.com, a women’s health platform, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• ModoHealth, a value-based care and patient management platform, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• PneumoWave, a platform for remote wireless diagnosing and monitoring potentially fatal respiratory changes in high-risk patient groups, raised £7.5 million
• Docline, a telemedicine platform, raised €3 million
• ERO Biotech, commercial-stage healthcare business dedicated to neonatal intensive care and the acute care hospital community, raised $30 million
• PneumoWave, developer of a wearable device that monitors the lungs to provide remote diagnostics for carers and medical services, raised £7.5 million
• Ferrum Health, a healthcare artificial intelligence platform developer, raised $6 million
• hi.health, developer of a digital insurtech solution, raised €6 million
• Monogram Health, a value-based specialty provider of in-home evidence-based care and benefit management services for patients living with polychronic conditions, raised $375 million

(Image source: patientengagementhit.com)