Fitbit launches Researcher Pledge and updates to their Terms of Service to help educate the research community on user privacy risks. In response to these evolving user privacy issues, Fitbit has developed a new Researcher Pledge and updates to their Terms of Service to help educate the research community on these risks and specify the commitments we require from researchers to help protect the privacy of our users. The new Research Pledge outlines best practices to help ensure research study
Read More
XLerateHealth Unveils 2019 Louisville Cohort of 9 Digital Health Startups
XLerateHealth, a Louisville, KY-based healthcare accelerator announced it has selected nine digital health startups to participate in its 2019 Louisville accelerator cohort. This is the 8th cohort to be selected into the bootcamp program since XLH’s launch in 2013.XLerateHealth (XLH) Accelerator Program OverviewThe accelerator’s 12-week intensive program will help the early-stage healthcare companies build out their commercialization strategy, which includes their intersection with Payers,
Read More
Data-Driven Precision Medicine Startup Tempus Lands $200M to Expand Into New Therapeutic Areas
Tempus, a leading technology company advancing precision medicine through the collection and analysis of molecular and clinical data, announced today an additional $200M financing at a value of $3.1 billion dollars. The investors include Baillie Gifford, Franklin Templeton, NEA, Novo Holdings, Revolution Growth, and funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price. With this latest round, the company has raised $520 million since its founding in September 2015.Founded in 2015, Tempus has the largest
Read More
LunaPBC Raises $4.6M to Fuel Community-Owned Genomic & Health Data Platform
LunaPBC, founder of LunaDNA, the first community-owned genomic and health data platform, has raised $4.6 million from ARCH Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Illumina Ventures, and Osage University Partners. The latest round brings the company’s total funding to date to $7.6 million.
First Community-Owned Health & DNA Research Platform
Founded in 2017 on the belief that health data sharing and community ownership are the new philanthropy, LunaDNA is the first
Read More
Consumer Awareness of Personalized Medicine Has Only Grown by 1% YoY Since 2013
Consumer awareness of personalized medicine is up 4% from 2018, according to a new report from Dosis, an AI-powered personalized dosing platform. The 2019 Dosis Personalized and Digital Medicine Consumer Report surveyed more than 1,000 consumers, weighted for the U.S. population, to gain a better understanding of how big the disconnect is between the advances in personalized medicine approaches and general consumer awareness of its benefits.Consumer Awareness of Personalized Medicine Continues
Read More
What The Failure of Microsoft’s HealthVault Means for the Future of EHRs
Microsoft recently announced that it is officially shutting down HealthVault at the end of this year. HealthVault was Microsoft’s attempt at a web-based personal health record system. You probably never used it -- it suffered low adoption. But while HealthVault will shut down, mobile apps that collect and store your personal health information and share it with your healthcare team are poised to revolutionize medicine and wellness practice.
The downfalls of HealthVault included its focus on
Read More
March 2019 News, Merger & Acquisition, IPO, Public Company Performance Summary
A brief summary of noteworthy news, health IT M&A activity, IPOs, and public company performance during the month of March.
Noteworthy News
Amazon, JP Morgan, Berkshire Names New Joint Venture Haven
Amazon, J.P. Morgan, and Berkshire Hathaway name joint venture Haven. In January 2018, the three founding companies announced plans to create this independent organization, now called Haven, which is free from profit-making incentives and constraints. Haven’s focus is the 1.2 million
Read More
Zebra Technologies Unveils Barcode Label & Wristband Printers to Reduce Medical Errors
Zebra Technologies Corporation, a market leader in rugged mobile computers, barcode scanners and barcode printers enhanced with software and services to enable real-time enterprise visibility, today announced two new healthcare barcode printing solutions that can identify patients and specimens at the point of care. Zebra’s ZQ600-Healthcare series label printers and ZD510-HC direct thermal wristband printer enable the production of highly durable labels and patient identification wristbands
Read More
Mayo Clinic Researchers Identify Blood-Based DNA Biomarker Panel
Researchers at Exact Sciences Corp. and Mayo Clinic announced significant progress toward developing a panel of novel, blood-based, DNA biomarkers that could accurately detect hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common cancer that originates in the liver. The researchers detailed their findings during a presentation today at Digestive Disease Week.Using DNA extracted from the blood samples of 244 people, including 95 diagnosed across all stages of HCC, 51 with cirrhosis, and 98 healthy
Read More
20 Promising Canadian Digital Health Companies to Watch
“A company’s odds of success are better the closer they can get to their market,” argues Stephen Hurwitz, a thought leader in the Canadian venture capital industry, recognizing that the proximity to a VC-tech hub can help the success rate of Canadian startups.
A socialized healthcare system, Canada’s market is fragmented by province and type of care – most primary and emergency care is free for residents whereas specialty care, prescription drugs, long-term and in-home care amongst others,
Read More