Digital health news, funding round up in the prior week; June 12, 2023

Alkeus Pharmaceuticals raised $150M; Care.ai partnered with Samsung; DoseSpot bought pVerify

Top Health News

• The American Cancer Society and Color Health announced a partnership that will provide convenient, accessible, and comprehensive cancer prevention and screening solutions for the highest-burden cancers including breast, prostate, lung, cervical, and colorectal for more than 150 million Americans who receive health care through either their employer or union. Together, ACS and Color Health are introducing the Cancer Prevention and Screening Program that combines ACS's expertise in clinical, evidence-based research on cancer prevention and Color Health's leadership in health care delivery to help employers and unions improve cancer outcomes and reduce costs for their employees and members.
• EVA Pharma completed its new biologics’ facility in Cairo, which is set to start producing high-quality insulin next month as part of an ongoing collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company to expand sustainable access to the essential medical product. In a first for both companies, EVA Pharma and Lilly entered a novel agreement December 2022 in which Lilly supplies its active pharmaceutical ingredient for insulin at a significantly reduced price to EVA Pharma, along with a pro-bono technology transfer.
• Carbon Health announced the launch of hands-free charting — an AI-enabled notes assistant — in its proprietary EHR across each of its clinics and providers. Carbon Health’s EHR (electronic health records) platform is the first to deploy native AI-assisted charting at scale. With the patent-pending technology, Carbon Health has developed a way for providers to generate comprehensive and accurate medical notes more efficiently with the press of a record button. Built directly into the Carbon Health EHR and designed to fit seamlessly into a provider’s existing workflow, the integration saves time and enhances the patient-doctor connection. Without a screen between them and their patients, doctors can focus more time on care and less on typing.
• AndHealth announced its partnership with Third Street Family Health Services, a Community Health Center (CHC), to offer integrated in-house care for rheumatological, dermatological, and neurological conditions at 8 of its locations in northern Ohio including in Mansfield, Shelby, Ashland, Ontario, and Bucyrus. This transformational partnership radically improves access and outcomes for patients with challenging conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and migraine while advancing Third Street as one of the leading health centers in Ohio that can offer integrated whole-person specialty care.
• Cardinal Health announced it has signed a definitive agreement to contribute its Outcomes business to Transaction Data Systems, a portfolio company of BlackRock Long Term Private Capital and GTCR, in exchange for a minority stake in the combined entity. Under the terms of the agreement, Cardinal Health's pharmaceutical segment CEO, Debbie Weitzman, will be appointed to the TDS board of directors. The transaction will create a broad, integrated offering of pharmacy workflow software with patient engagement and clinical solutions to serve the patient, pharmacy, payer, and pharmaceutical company ecosystem, including one of the nation's largest networks of 40,000 retail, chain and grocery pharmacies.
• GE HealthCare announced the FDA clearance and launch of Sonic DL – a deep learning-based technology designed to dramatically accelerate image acquisition in magnetic resonance imaging. Sonic DL enables new imaging paradigms, such as high-quality cardiac MRI in a single heartbeat. This expands GE HealthCare’s AI-enabled solutions portfolio.
• Jackson Nurse Professionals, a travel nurse staffing agency, announced its exclusive new partnership with NurseWallet, a financial mobile application designed specifically for today’s busy nurse professionals. With NurseWallet, Jackson Nurse Professionals’ travel nurses can proactively and easily manage their earnings to achieve both their short- and long-term financial goals.
• LetzChat, an AI-driven language translation company, announced its strategic partnership with Managed Health, a prominent employee benefits company. Managed Health, with its commitment to enhancing employee well-being and productivity, has chosen LetzChat as its language solution provider to address the growing language barriers faced by its diverse clientele. By integrating LetzChat's advanced translation technology into their employee benefits platform, Managed Health aims to break down linguistic barriers, ensuring all employees have equal access to vital information and services.
• Blackhawk Claims Service, a third-party administrator, announced it has partnered with Blue Genes, an app-based tool that allows patients and providers to personalize medication plans based on drug-to-drug interactions and genetic compatibility. Providing members with an accurate and in-depth understanding of how their genetics interact with their prescriptions results in less risk of adverse drug reactions and reduced costs for patients and providers.
• Lunit, a provider of AI-powered cancer diagnostic solutions, announced the signing of a supply and license agreement with Capio S:t Göran Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Under the agreement, Lunit will provide S:t Göran Hospital with Lunit INSIGHT MMG, an AI solution for mammography analysis, for the next three years. The integration of Lunit's AI solution will enable Capio S:t Göran Hospital to analyze approximately 78,000 patients' mammography images each year, significantly contributing to Sweden's national cancer screening program.
• MedTech Innovator, an accelerator of medical technology companies, announced the 2023 Accelerator Cohort. After a competitive selection process, 61 companies were chosen to participate in the MedTech Innovator’s flagship four-month MedTech Accelerator program. Featuring medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies from around the globe, the 2023 Cohort members will get unparalleled visibility and access to leading medtech manufacturers, providers, investors, and other industry stakeholders. MedTech Innovator will additionally award $800,000 in non-dilutive funding to winners of its competitions throughout the 2023 program.
• NYU Langone Health and Deerfield Management Company, a healthcare investment firm, announced the launch of a research and development collaboration designed to accelerate the commercialization of biomedical discoveries. Through a newly formed company called Amethyst Innovations, LLC, Deerfield has committed up to $130 million over the next 10 years, along with additional scientific and operational support, including access to the Deerfield-founded Women in Science program, to advance the translation of NYU Langone's cutting-edge biomedical research in a broad range of areas.
• Clarify Health, a provider of healthcare analytics and digital solutions, announced the closed beta launch of its revolutionary generative artificial intelligence program, Clara. This groundbreaking technology is set to empower healthcare delivery organizations to access insights into influenceable behavior changes that matter the most in lowering the cost and improving the quality of healthcare – at a fraction of the time it traditionally takes. Harnessing the power of Clarify's healthcare claims dataset, one of the most comprehensive in the U.S., Clara utilizes advanced machine learning and natural language processing to quickly deliver precise, relevant, and actionable data to healthcare professionals.
• One Health Direct launched a holistic operational system to help patients and healthcare professionals. The Genesis system efficiently navigates and streamlines various eligibility and reimbursement requirements needed to qualify for and receive treatment. Incorporating all required procedural components into a well-defined series of processes and protocols with multiple checks and balances aimed at maximizing efficacy and efficiency. From patient acquisition through product fulfillment, plus ongoing support, each aspect of the operational cycle is seamlessly integrated into the system.
• Olympus Corporation, a global MedTech company committed to making people's lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling, announced the plan to establish a series of Digital Excellence Centers following acquisition of London-based Odin Vision, a cloud-AI endoscopy company with a strong portfolio of commercially available computer-aided detection/diagnostic solutions and innovation pipeline of cloud-enabled applications. The acquisition has strengthened Olympus' recently announced strategy and initiatives in digital health and brings the promise of AI-powered real-time diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment of chronic diseases closer to reality, ultimately raising the standard of care across multiple medical specialties and improving patient outcomes.
• nVoq Incorporated, a provider of speech recognition technology within the in-home healthcare industry, and Netsmart, a provider of healthcare technology solutions for human services, post-acute care and specialty practice communities, announced a partnership agreement that will bring advanced speech to text capabilities to the Netsmart myUnity electronic health record. As part of the partnership, Netsmart becomes the authorized reseller of the nVoq speech recognition products for Netsmart clients. The cloud-based speech recognition technology will be seamlessly integrated within the Netsmart myUnity EHR solution, providing users with an intuitive and efficient way to document patient visits by simply using the power of their voice. With nVoq's advanced language understanding capabilities, the solution can accurately capture spoken words and convert them to text in real time, minimizing the need for manual data entry, improving documentation quality and reducing the risk of errors.
• CNSI, a provider of innovative healthcare technology solutions, and Kepro, a provider of technology-enabled care management, quality oversight, and clinical assessment services, announced the combined organization has rebranded as Acentra Health. The announcement follows the CNSI-Kepro merger, which was completed in December 2022. The name Acentra Health derives from the root words "accelerate" and "central," reflecting the company's uncompromising resolve to be a vital partner to public sector health agencies in the delivery of comprehensive healthcare solutions and services, with "Health" being its central business focus.
• VitalCaring Group, a provider of home health, hospice and palliative care services, announced a strategic partnership with Corridor, the market leading provider of tech-enabled coding, clinical documentation review and revenue cycle services for the post-acute healthcare industry. Corridor will be delivering a comprehensive review of clinical documentation to ensure accurate and timely reimbursement, accelerate processing times and enhance clinical staff performance. These services will also help to ensure timely and successful survey outcomes and assist with meeting regulatory compliance requirements.
• Mural Health, a clinical trials technology company that improves the patient and caregiver experience in clinical trials, announced a strategic partnership with ClinOne, a provider of adaptive clinical trial experience solutions. The move will integrate Mural Link, a next generation patient payments and participant management platform, into ClinOne's patient support and trial management technology. The partnership will further streamline site-level operations and improve the participant journey. Both companies are using technology to help sponsors overcome the stubborn challenges of drug development, including poor recruitment and retention, by focusing product design on the participant (the end-user). Both companies are also committed to reducing the administrative burden that clinical research sites can experience when sponsors require multiple technology platforms.
• CareCloud, a provider of healthcare technology solutions for medical practices and health systems nationwide, announced the addition of key revenue cycle management services and chronic care management to Calhoun Medical Clinic and Raleigh Family Health Clinic, both located in Mississippi and owned by Dr. Mark DeLoach.
• Maternal healthcare tech company Emagine Solutions Technology announced a partnership with Withings Health Solutions, the business-to-business division of Withings, the global leader in connected health. The collaboration is designed to improve maternal mortality by giving pregnant users of Emagine’s The Journey Pregnancy App access to premium blood pressure monitoring tools. To access the Withings devices, users of The Journey Pregnancy App simply sign up for the premium wellness coaching subscription. As a part of their package, they will receive a Withings Body Smart scale, a Withings BPM Connect blood pressure monitor and regular meetings with a certified wellness coach. Customers can use their HSA or FSA to pay for subscriptions.
• XOi, a provider of technician-first smart technology for commercial and residential field service companies, announces a partnership with Discovery Sound Technology, a patented, data-driven diagnostic and analytics platform. The partnership integrates DST's comprehensive ultrasound-based diagnostic reporting capabilities with XOi's field service technology, helping contractors drive revenue and growth with AI-based visual documentation.
• FIND and two South Korea-based organizations partnered on improving access to diagnostic testing in low- and middle-income countries. Under one memorandum of understanding, FIND and the RIGHT Foundation will support the development of diagnostic platforms, rapid tests, and digital tools. Under another MOU, FIND and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute will support South Korea's diagnostics industry and help meet global health needs. The RIGHT Foundation is a public-private partnership among the South Korean government, life science companies based in the country, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The KHIDI is a government-backed organization intended to enhance competence in the healthcare industry and improve public health.
• ixlayer, a platform for health testing, announced a partnership with Porter, a care coordination company, to integrate ixlayer’s at-home testing and remote patient monitoring capabilities into Porter’s existing care coordination offerings. ixlayer will serve as the backbone of Porter’s infrastructure, enabling increased touchpoints during patient transitions from hospital to home, which will improve patient outcomes.
• CareView Communications, an information technology provider to the healthcare industry, announced the signing of an agreement with Central Texas VA Health Care System in Waco and Temple, Texas, under its partnership with Decisive Point Consulting Group. Decisive Point Consulting Group contracts directly with VA hospitals to use a variety of CareView products to enhance the services being provided to veterans.
• Stayhealthy, a healthcare technology company bringing together the most advanced tools to measure and change the health and wellness status of millions of users, announced its collaboration with Tinybeans Group Limited to educate children via new Snack Town All-Stars releases of music and videos distributed via Bungalo/Universal Music Group, and augmented reality coloring activities. This educational content is primarily distributed via the Snack Town All Stars YouTube channel with nearly 100M views to date. The relationship with Bungalo/Universal Music Group provides tremendous reach through their streaming, music, and entertainment relationships. This reach provided a perfect opportunity for collaboration with Tinybeans, a product-led company that is built by parents, for parents.
• AgBiome, a microbial innovation company, and Ginkgo Bioworks announced a partnership to optimize the performance of products in AgBiome's pipeline of agricultural biologicals. Organizations developing next generation agricultural inputs can access Ginkgo's platform to accelerate discovery and deployment of new products. By leveraging Ginkgo's ultra high throughput encapsulated screening capabilities, AgBiome aims to provide growers with new and improved live microbial strain products.
• Phil, a patient access platform company that revolutionizes life science product commercialization, announced an agreement with Teva Pharmaceuticals that will make Digihaler® products available for prescription using the PhilRx Patient Access Platform. Teva’s Digihaler system is the first and only smart inhaler system that can provide objective inhaler data to help patients and their doctors have informed treatment discussion in support of asthma management. The goal of Phil and Teva Pharmaceuticals’ partnership is to help enable patients to receive and refill their Digihaler medication quickly, easily and affordably. Using the PhilRx Patient Access Platform, patients can fill their prescription, review prescription records and obtain assistance navigating insurance benefits.
• care.ai, a provider of a Smart Care Facility Platform and ambient intelligent sensors, announced its partnership with Samsung to bring the highest quality graphics and display to care settings, elevating the patient experience by transforming hospitals, nursing homes and care facilities with smarter, more responsive care environments. Through the industry-leading platform, Smart Care Teams are empowered to work at the top of their licenses by reducing time-consuming administrative tasks through smart care automation and new virtual modes of care. care.ai, the innovator of the world's first and most advanced Smart Care Facility Platform and healthcare's leading ambient intelligent sensors, today announced its partnership with Samsung to bring the highest quality graphics and display to care settings, elevating the patient experience by transforming hospitals, nursing homes and care facilities with smarter, more responsive care environments. Through the industry-leading platform, Smart Care Teams are empowered to work at the top of their licenses by reducing time-consuming administrative tasks through smart care automation and new virtual modes of care.
• Cue Health, a healthcare technology company, announced that it was the first company to receive De Novo authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Cue COVID-19 Molecular Test, designed for both home and point-of-care use. This sets a new standard as the first FDA De Novo authorization for a home use COVID-19 test and the first De Novo granted for any home use respiratory test. This highlights Cue Health's dedication to empowering individuals with accurate, accessible, and actionable diagnostic tools. The FDA's De Novo authorization signifies that the Cue COVID-19 Molecular Test meets the agency's stringent regulatory standards for safety and efficacy.
• Somatus, a value-based kidney care company, and Kidney Care Center announced a significant expansion to their existing collaborative efforts. With the success of their established value-based care partnership, the two organizations are adding a long-term, joint venture arrangement to improve outcomes for patients living in Illinois, Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Florida with chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease while also reducing unnecessary Medicare expenses. Additionally, the two groups are joining to participate in Medicare's Comprehensive Kidney Care Contracting program.
• Equality Health, a provider ofvvalue-based care, announced its Equality Health at Home care program – an innovative initiative whereby on-staff community health workers, nurse practitioners, and chaplains deliver in-person and virtual care at home to patients facing complex medical issues and experiencing significant barriers to managing their health. The program aims to overcome a range of challenges and reconnect patients to their primary care provider in the Equality Health Network, driving better health outcomes through timely and appropriate delivery of care.
• Seer, a life sciences company commercializing a disruptive new platform for proteomics, announced an expanded collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific, a world leader in serving science, to enable broader access to each company’s respective new technologies. As part of the collaboration, Seer will establish the Seer Technology Access Center to showcase its latest product, the Proteograph XT Assay Kit, in combination with Thermo Fisher’s newest mass spectrometer, the Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Astral mass spectrometer. The combination of Proteograph XT and Orbitrap Astral MS will deliver unprecedented depth and scale in complex biological samples, with over 6,000 protein IDs and over 54,000 peptide IDs per sample from human plasma, paving the road for population-scale studies with unprecedented biological insight.
• Empeon, an enterprise-grade Human Capital Management platform for health systems, announced its partnership with showd.me, the premier compliance and training partner for home care agencies and skilled nursing facilities. The two software providers are joining forces to equip the healthcare industry with a robust technology stack to help combat the current employee retention crisis in healthcare staffing.
• RevSpring, a provider of healthcare engagement and payment solutions, announced that the Google Pay application now is available in its PersonaPay portal for healthcare providers and their customers. This integration makes using Google Pay in PersonaPay secure, fast and convenient for patients, even as it increases conversion rates and enables faster payment flows for providers. Google allows patients to make payments, easily and securely, using any device that supports Google Pay eliminating the need for passwords or credit cards. PersonaPay customers can now enjoy a frictionless payment processing experience with Google Pay through RevSpring’s merchant services offering.
• AGE-WELL, in collaboration with the Canadian Frailty Network, is funding 17 one-year research projects through the inaugural Catalyst Funding Program in Healthy Aging. The projects will drive forward the new Healthy Aging Canada collaborative with technology-enabled solutions that improve the lives of older Canadians from diverse populations. In total, the projects involve 30 project leads and 28 trainees from 18 Canadian universities and research centres across 7 provinces. The total funding for these projects is over $800,000.
• Google Cloud announced a collaboration with Mayo Clinic to transform healthcare with generative AI, starting with Enterprise Search in Generative AI App Builder (Gen App Builder), to improve the efficiency of clinical workflows, make it easier for clinicians and researchers to find the information they need, and ultimately to help improve patient outcomes. In addition, Google Cloud announced that its Enterprise Search on Gen App Builder is now ready to support HIPAA compliance.
• AliveCor, a provider of personal electrocardiogram technology, announced a collaboration with Luscii, a remote patient monitoring and virtual ward provider. Together, the companies will launch a 'virtual heart clinic in a box', revolutionising cardiac care for millions of patients by making it easy for any hospital or GP to deliver high-quality, remote patient monitoring to their patients. Luscii Virtual Heart Clinic® aims to provide cardiologists with a comprehensive, easy-to-use app to offer remote cardiac patient monitoring to their patients. The app prompts patients to take measurements of vital signs which are automatically analysed to detect abnormalities. This results in an improved patient experience and more time to care for the clinical teams. Luscii therefore integrates AliveCor's advanced 6-lead ECG technology next to Omron blood pressure meters and scale and Happitech PPG in its medically certified telehealth platform that is launched in 11 countries for over 100 conditions.
• Syntax Health, an enterprise SaaS-based solution for health plans and providers that accelerates alignment in value-based care, announced the launch of its dynamic platform that removes friction in the contracting process using analytics, infrastructure and a collaborative Virtual Workspace. The team-centric enterprise solution drives transparency, collaboration and consistency, and facilitates best-fit payment model design in real-time.
• BoomerangFX, an international cloud-based SaaS provider of end-to-end practice management solutions for non-insured, private-pay healthcare segments including dermatology, cosmetic surgery, medical spa, cosmetic dentistry, vision care and women's health, announced that it has partnered with health technology pioneer DrFirst to offer clients a unified medication management platform to maximize clinical workflows and patient engagement.
• Annexus Health, a healthcare technology company that is revolutionizing the patient access journey through its solutions, announced its partnership with healthcare management solutions provider Omega Healthcare. Annexus Health will utilize the expertise of the Omega Healthcare team to support the robust market demand for Adparo, the company's services division that provides staff to assist healthcare provider organizations in managing the patient assistance workflow. The partnership with Omega Healthcare will also help facilitate several expanded offerings currently in development at Annexus Health.
• Altera Digital Health, a global health IT innovator, and Columbus Community Hospital, a community-owned, not-for-profit hospital in Columbus, Nebraska announced the hospital is extending its use of the Paragon electronic health record by seven years. A Paragon client since 2010, the 50-bed hospital will also now leverage upgrade services as part of its Altera subscription to ensure it remains up to date with the EHR and takes full advantage of future Paragon releases.
• The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the Emirate, signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with global biopharmaceutical company MSD GCC, to advance research into breast and lung cancer. Within the framework of their renewed partnership, the two parties will work together to initiate two observational research studies in the field of oncology, explicitly targeting non-small cell lung cancer and triple-negative breast cancer. The studies aim to advance the ability to address the healthcare challenges associated with these diseases and improve patient outcomes.
• Office Ally, a provider of healthcare technology solutions to hospitals, providers and billing companies, and OnPoint Healthcare Partners, a partner in healthcare management, announced their strategic partnership aimed at extending the reach of their products and services to healthcare providers. This collaboration will enable OnPoint to offer Office Ally's advanced Revenue Cycle Management solutions to providers, health systems, hospitals and Federally Qualified Health Centers. 
• Curana Health, a provider-led, primary and post-acute organization focused on senior living communities, selected Netsmart as their healthcare technology partner to enhance care coordination and delivery, to better support value-based models of care by leveraging the CareFabric platform. Through this collaboration, Curana will utilize a comprehensive suite of highly customized solutions to advance consumer engagement initiatives, expand value-based care and effectively manage high-risk populations across their facilities nationwide. Curana will leverage GEHRIMED, a cloud-based mobile electronic health record solution designed for and by long-term/post-acute care practitioners with capabilities needed to enhance care, simplify workflows and manage compliance. GEHRIMED, an ONC-certified solution, provides efficient documentation for clinicians and streamlines quality measure support for merit-based incentive payment system, accountable care organization measures management and value-based care initiatives.
• Through a collaboration with Digital Therapeutics Alliance, the International Organization for Standardization developed a definition for digital therapeutics (DTx). DTx is now defined as: A health software intended to treat or alleviate a disease, disorder, condition or injury by generating and delivering a medical intervention that has a demonstrable positive therapeutic impact on a patient’s health. Additionally, DTA announced a partnership with Healthware Group, a health care technology firm, to launch a website and report that follows the policy pathways of DTx in Europe.
• Endonovo Therapeutics, a medical technology company, is working with a prominent developer of telehealth platforms to establish a new telehealth division for Endonovo. Endonovo’s SofPulse Pulsed Electro Magnetic Field Therapy -- which can be used to treat pain and inflammation as a cost-effective and patient-friendly therapy -- can expand exponentially through telehealth direct to consumer sales. By leveraging the power of telecommunication and digital platforms, telehealth eliminates geographical barriers, bringing medical expertise directly to patients through virtual consultations, remote monitoring and personalized care plans.
• egnite, a digital health company for cardiovascular care, and JenaValve Technology, a developer and manufacturer of differentiated transcatheter aortic valve replacement systems, announced a strategic partnership aimed to shed light on the care paradigm and associated outcomes of patients with aortic regurgitation. The partnership leverages egnite’s industry-leading database to quantify prevalence and treatment patterns and has conservatively estimated there may be over 500,000 patients in the United States diagnosed with moderate or severe AR.
• GenCare Lifestyle, a senior living community operator, announced a partnership with Rippl Care, a behavioral health company focused on caring for seniors with dementia and other neurocognitive conditions. The partnership bridges the significant gap in behavioral health services available to seniors in the United States. Under the partnership, GenCare will introduce Rippl's innovative program to residents, offering a proactive, personalized approach for residents that prioritizes their mental and physical well-being.
• HealthDyne and Cost Plus Drugs partnered to deliver pharmacy solutions for a new era in medication therapy distribution. HealthDyne, a provider of digital pharmacy services, was selected by Cost Plus Drugs to expand its pharmacy operations.
• Lunaphore, a Swiss life sciences company developing technology to enable spatial biology in every laboratory, and Cell Signaling Technology, a life science discovery technology company and provider of antibodies, kits, and services, announced a partnership to enable the use of CST antibodies on the Lunaphore COMET platform, a scalable hyperplex imaging solution for fully automated spatial biology. This partnership enables the use of over 1,700 IHC-validated antibodies from CST detected by fluorescent secondary antibodies for use on the COMET, empowering researchers to develop antibody panels quickly and with confidence. With a comprehensive offering of primary rabbit and mouse antibodies, researchers relying on CST antibody products have the tools they need to enable fully automated hyperplex imaging at scale.
• Marpai, an AI-powered Third-Party Administrator transforming self-funded employer health plans, announced a relationship with Oshi Health to offer the most clinically advanced virtual digestive care to its employer health plan members. The result of rigorous clinical evaluation, this relationship meets the increased urgency of employers to address digestive health concerns and provide access to multidisciplinary digestive care to their employees. Marpai is adding Oshi Health to Marpai Connect, its value-based care network of proven clinical care partners focused on preventing, mitigating, and reversing prevalent, high-cost conditions within health plan populations. Using proprietary AI-powered technology, Marpai proactively informs and educates health plan members facing costly gastrointestinal treatments or procedures, uses multi-channel marketing to drive enrollment, nurtures participating members throughout the process and delivers transparent, detailed reporting to employers. Oshi Health is incentivized to deliver outcomes for members, and employers only pay for program participation by a member.
• Ascend Vision Partners, an administrative service provider for eye care practices, and Advanced Eyecare Associates, an ophthalmic practice in Central Florida, announced a strategic partnership aimed at enhancing eye health services across the state. The partnership between AVP and Advanced Eyecare Associates combines their expertise and resources to deliver top-notch eye care services to patients in Winter Haven, Fla., and the surrounding areas. The collaboration will leverage the strengths of both organizations to expand access to advanced eye care technologies, provide comprehensive vision solutions, and improve patient outcomes.
• Aviko Radiopharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company developing medicines to unlock the potential of boron neutron capture therapy, and Neutron Therapeutics, a provider of accelerator-based neutron systems for targeted radiation therapy of solid tumors, announced the formation of a strategic partnership to advance BNCT to treat cancer. The partnership aligns the companies’ efforts to build the first BNCT treatment center in the United States and to establish additional BNCT facilities through collaborations with premier academic medical centers.
• Safety Net Connect, a provider of advanced virtual care solutions, partnered with MAVEN Project, a 501c3 enabling specialists to connect with primary care providers working in traditionally marginalized communities. Utilizing SNC’s Converge solution to provide seamless asynchronous and synchronous communication capability, MAVEN Project connects their team of over 165 expert physician volunteers to safety net clinicians.
• Stork Club, a family-building benefits solution, announced its partnership with Conceptions Reproductive Associates of Colorado, the first fertility practice in Colorado to adopt TMRW technology, which created the world's first and only FDA-cleared, automated platform for the safe management of frozen eggs and embryos. Through Stork Club's partnership with Conceptions Reproductive Associates of Colorado, patients can access virtual care, a state-of-the-art laboratory, a Center/Institute of Excellence with Optum and Aetna, and SART members in good standing. Conceptions Reproductive Associates of Colorado's four locations, including Denver, Littleton, Lone Tree and Lafayette, have all exceeded US benchmarks for live birth per embryo transfer.
• PMB, a healthcare real estate developer, in partnership with Sutter Health, has broken ground on a 4-story, 100,000 square-foot medical office building in Roseville, CA. The building is located at 7 Medical Plaza Drive on the Sutter Roseville Medical Center campus and will be home to the Graduate Medical Education Program which will provide training and education for future physicians to support Sutter Health's system. The remainder of the building will be occupied by Sutter Valley Medical Foundation and will provide: Cardiovascular, Bariatric, Dermatology, MOHS, Rheumatology, and Endocrinology services.
• Clasado Biosciences, developer of the prebiotic ingredient Bimuno GOS, announced a new partnership with Probi, a probiotics company. The collaboration is set to utilise the scientific portfolios of the two businesses in their respective fields. Responding to rapidly expanding gut health awareness and global demand for complementary technologies, the collaborative partnership enables Clasado and Sweden-based Probi to leverage their combined knowledge on synbiotic projects targeting specific consumer health benefits.
• Orgenesis, a global biotech company working to unlock the full potential of cell and gene therapies at the point of care, and University of California, Davis, announced an agreement to roll out proprietary Orgenesis Mobile Processing Units and Labs at medical or academic institutions within the University of California system. The partnership agreement sets out a staged approach through which Orgenesis will install and operate OMPULs™, enabling their proprietary point-of-care Service Platform to manufacture therapeutics at hospitals throughout California, empowering onsite production for clinical trials like the cell and gene therapies in development at UC Davis Health’s Alpha Stem Cell Clinic.
• Gusto Global announced an expansion of its partnership with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation to advance groundbreaking technical development for a prognostic linking predictive microbiome-based biomarkers to sustainable remission. The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation previously funded development of Gusto’s rigorously defined and systematically profiled community of bacteria aiming to treat IBD by rebalancing a healthy microbiome.
• Corning Incorporated and SGD Pharma announced a joint venture of the opening of a new glass tubing facility to expand pharmaceutical manufacturing in India. In addition to this, the partnership will allow SGD Pharma to adopt Corning’s Velocity Vial technology platform. The joint venture will enhance vial quality, improve filling-line productivity, and speed up the global delivery of injectable treatments. SGD Pharma and Corning have established a new pharmaceutical glass tubing facility in Telangana, India. Together, the two companies will help drugmakers respond to increasingly complex capacity and quality issues while meeting global demand for critical medicines.
• VieCure announced the go-live of OCP Miami as a part of VieCure’s strategic partnership with value-based care organization, Oncology Care Partners. The extension of this collaboration will assist OCP in its provision of world-class care to patients across its growing U.S. network, by supporting OCP’s providers in creating personalized treatment plans using VieCure’s Halo Intelligence Platform and helping OCP advance its commitment to overall health equity for its patients.
• The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and George Freeman, the United Kingdom's Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology), signed a memorandum of cooperation detailing each jurisdiction's commitment to advancing a biomanufacturing program. Under the biomanufacturing MOC, Canada and the U.K. commit to jointly developing and producing the critical products each country needs to respond to the next health emergency. This collaboration will also build upon past and current joint biomanufacturing activities, notably through the National Research Council of Canada.
• North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and Merck announced a collaboration agreement today for Merck to build a biotechnology training center at Gateway Research Park’s South Campus in East Greensboro. Merck will outfit the facility with the equipment and classroom spaces necessary to provide and enhance academic programming and training for biotechnology careers for North Carolina A&T students. A process laboratory will allow opportunities for students to put knowledge into practice in an advanced discovery setting.
• Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Canada’s nuclear Crown corporation, and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology laboratory, announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of New Brunswick to pursue collaborative research opportunities. The MOU shows continued momentum for AECL and CNL in their efforts to develop a partnership network with Canada’s academic community, and builds on what has been an already close relationship with one of the country’s leading universities.
• Univar Solutions, a global solutions provider to users of specialty ingredients and chemicals, announced the Company has reached an agreement with W. R. Grace & Co. to distribute Grace's SYLOID® FP silica for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical markets in the majority of European countries*. The agreement builds upon the existing global relationship between Univar Solutions and Grace in the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and the majority of Europe providing customers access to this multifunctional excipient used in over the counter and prescription drug delivery solutions and supplements.
• NightWise, a science-based consumer health company, formed a partnership with The Snow Agency, a digital marketing agency. These two companies are teaming up to launch a digital marketing campaign centered on educating people on the importance and value of restorative sleep. In partnership with NightWise, The Snow Agency will spearhead a multi-channel, targeted digital marketing campaign encompassing social media, email and SMS, influencer marketing, advertorials, and paid ads. The campaign will focus its mission on educating people about the transformative value and importance of restorative sleep, positioning NightWise as the solution to improving the quality of sleep.
• Regen Lab, a Swiss commercial-stage medical technology company specializing in the research, development, registration, manufacturing and commercialization of proprietary tissue engineering products, announced that its US subsidiary, RegenLab USA LLC, has entered into a collaboration agreement with Long Island University and the Dassault Systèmes Group. This agreement is the result of an earlier collaboration between LIU and Regen Lab as part of the BioBridge Foundation, a global platform promoting scientific research and medical education specializing in the applications of regenerative medicine, which held its first annual conference at LIU New York last November.
• Singing Machine Company, a maker of karaoke products, announced a partnership between their new CARE-eoke by Singing Machine initiative and the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, with a joint mission to bring joy through music to children’s hospitals nationwide. The Ryan Seacrest Foundation has built broadcast media centers, named Seacrest Studios, in 12 children’s hospitals, with two more slated to open later this year, and now they will feature official Singing Machine CARE-eoke programming for patients and their families to enjoy, as well.
• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a new primary care model – the Making Care Primary Model – that will be tested under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation in eight states. Access to high-quality primary care is associated with better health outcomes and equity for people and communities. MCP is an important step in strengthening the primary care infrastructure in the country, especially for safety net and smaller or independent primary care organizations. The model seeks to improve care for patients by expanding and enhancing care management and care coordination, equipping primary care clinicians with tools to form partnerships with health care specialists, and leveraging community-based connections to address patients’ health needs as well as their health-related social needs.
• Samsung Biologics and Pfizer announced a strategic partnership for the long-term commercial manufacturing of Pfizer’s multi-product portfolio. Samsung Biologics and Pfizer entered into an initial manufacturing agreement in March 2023 for a Pfizer product. Under the terms of the new agreement, Samsung Biologics will provide Pfizer with additional capacity for large-scale manufacturing for a multi-product biosimilars portfolio covering oncology, inflammation, and immunology. Samsung will use its newest facility, Plant 4, for the manufacturing.
• Lilli, a company using machine learning to revolutionise home care, announced a partnership with digital care management provider Nourish Care to support local authorities and care providers in the successful implementation of digital social care records and services designed to help prevent falls and improve the overall quality, safety and personalisation of adult social care. Lilli’s proactive, sensor-based monitoring solution working alongside Nourish’s digital care management system will play an essential role in joining up health and care services, empowering residential and domiciliary care providers to share a wider range of real-time information across the sector.

M&A

• Olympus Corporation signed a definitive agreement to acquire Odin Vision, a cloud-AI endoscopy company
• DoseSpot, a software-as-a-service platform that enables clinicians to write and transmit prescriptions to pharmacies electronically, acquired pVerify, a solution that streamlines the front-end patient eligibility verification process, helps patients get necessary care and aims to reduce overall healthcare costs
• Novo Nordisk entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire a controlling stake in BIOCORP, a developer and manufacturer of medical devices and delivery systems
• My Emergency Doctor, an Australian telemedicine service, acquired online doctor service GP2U Telehealth from Doctor Care Anywhere Group
• Med-Metrix, a provider of technology-enabled, Revenue Cycle Management solutions, acquired Tritech Healthcare Management, a provider of complex claims solutions for health systems, hospitals and other healthcare providers
• The IMA Group, a medical and psychological screening and evaluation service provider, acquired Pontum Health, a regional provider of Social Security Disability evaluations currently operating in the Pacific Northwest
• Rology, a teleradiology company in the Middle East and Africa, acquired Arkan United, a teleradiology provider, headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• SpendMend, a provider of solutions to optimize the cost-cycle for the healthcare industry, completed its acquisition of Rebate Insight, a software solution provider that streamlines the management and optimization of rebates for healthcare organizations
• Ecolab, a water, hygiene and infection prevention company that protects people and the resources vital to life, acquired the Brand Operations Services business from Deloitte
• WebMD Health Services, a provider of holistic well-being solutions, acquired Limeade, an immersive employee well-being company
• Medical Technology Associates, a provider pf medical gas services, testing and equipment, acquired medical gas services and equipment company Premier Medical
• SunMed Group Holdings, maker of anesthesia and respiratory medical devices, acquired the respiratory health business of Avanos Medical
• Boreo Plc, a company that creates value by owning, acquiring and developing small and medium sized companies in Northern Europe, signed a share purchase agreement to acquire Delfin Technologies Oy, developer of skin research instruments
• Kovo HealthTech Corporation, a healthcare technology and Billing-as-a-Service company, entered into a binding agreement to acquire digital medical billing provider Kairos Billing Solution
• Wolters Kluwer Health, an information services company, acquired Invistics Corporation, a provider of cloud-based, AI-enabled software for drug diversion detection and controlled substance compliance
• Merit Medical Systems acquired the Dialysis product portfolio and BioSentry Tract Sealant System Biopsy product from AngioDynamics, a medical technology company focused on restoring healthy blood flow in the body’s vascular system, expanding cancer treatment options and improving quality of life for patients

Funding Roundup 

• Helium Health, an EHR company specializing in developing hospital software to manage patients' health records and data, raised $30 million
• Astek Diagnostics, a urinary tract infection diagnostic tool, raised $2 million
• Pareto Health, an employee benefits platform of choice for thousands of businesses, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• Twig Fertility, a fertility and reproductive health company, raised $8 million
• RxLightning, creator of a platform for streamlining specialty medication access and affordability, raised $17.5 million
• Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for serious diseases of the eye with high unmet need, raised $150 million
• AHARA, a personalized nutrition solution that translates clinically validated science into practical nutrition recommendations for optimal health, raised $10.25 million
• AAVantgarde Bio, a clinical-stage international biotechnology company, raised €61 million
• Laudio, a healthcare management solution, raised $13 million
• Significo, a personalized health recommendation platform, raised $12 million
• Carta Healthcare, a company whose mission is to improve patient care by harnessing the value of clinical data, raised $25 million
• Sami, a health plan operator that provides technology-based solutions for SME healthcare companies in Brazil, raised $18 million
• Nutromics, developer of a "lab-in-a-patch," which uses DNA sensor technology to track multiple targets, raised $7 million
• Health Basix, a  provider of comprehensive healthcare services in schools, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• Pomelo Care, a virtual medical practice that improves maternal and newborn health outcomes, raised $33 million
• Vertos Medical, a developer of minimally invasive treatments for lumbar spinal stenosis, raised $26 million
• 2070 Health, a healthcare venture studio that aims to create a platform that will build healthcare companies from scratch, raised $30 million
• HealthifyMe, a company offers services such as calorie tracking, one-on-one nutrition, fitness coaching, diet tracking, and workout plans, raised $30 million
• Yuvo Health, a technology-enabled administrative and managed-care solution for community health centers, raised $20.2 million
• Linear Diagnostics, developer of a 20-minute sexually transmitted disease test, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• Karoo Health, a provider of cardiac value-based care enablement, raised $3.4 million
• Gilbert Technologies, a company that develops medical devices for inhalation therapeutic applications, raised €7 million
• Syntax Health, a SaaS-based solution for health plans and providers that accelerates alignment in value-based care, launched with $7.5 million
• Mend, a life sciences and digital health company operating at the intersection of nutrapharma, food as medicine, and behavioral health, raised $15 million
• Conformal Medical, a medical device company developing next-generation left atrial appendage occlusion technology, raised $35 million

(Image source: mdbriefcase.com)