What You Should Know:
- Virtual reality mental and behavioral health companies BehaVR and OxfordVR today announced their merger, supported by an initial $13M in Series B funding led by Optum Ventures and Oxford Science Enterprises, with participation from Confluent Health, Accenture Ventures, Chrysalis Ventures and Thornton Capital.
- Uniting under the BehaVR brand, digital therapeutic companies BehaVR and OxfordVR will deliver comprehensive virtual reality-based treatments for mental and
Read More
PhD
Specialty Pharma’s Next Big Opportunity: It’s Time for Patient Access to Adopt an Open Protocol
In January 2020, the financial conglomerate Visa announced it was acquiring a relatively unknown startup, Plaid, for $5.3 billion. Corporate acquisitions like these are not uncommon, but someone at the United States Department of Justice took notice of this announcement. Visa had established a stranglehold on financial transactions. The Justice Department moved to stop the acquisition on grounds that Plaid posed “a threat to this monopoly: it has been developing an innovative
Read More
ConcertAI Names Ronan Brown as its First COO
What You Should Know:
- ConcertAI, which provides AI SaaS and real-world data tech solutions for oncology research and trials, today announced the appointment of Ronan Brown as its first COO.
- In his new role as COO, Brown will oversee and enhance day-to-day operations across the company, globally, to assure the quality, performance, and seamless functionality of the company’s solutions as the ConcertAI continues it high growth.
- Brown, who was most recently senior vice
Read More
Arine, Gemini Health Partner to Optimize Medications While Lowering Prescription Drug Costs
What You Should Know:
- Arine - a next-generation medication intelligence company - and Gemini - a drug cost transparency platform - announced an integration that supports Blue Shield of California (Blue Shield) by combining each platform’s unique technology to deliver value-based care.
- The collaboration incorporates cost transparency information into Arine’s medication intelligence platform to empower care teams to provide highly personalized, data-driven medication consultations for
Read More
When Advancing a Medical Device, Be A Partner First & Seller Second to Hospital Systems
US hospital systems validate the safety, clinical utility, and robustness of newly FDA-approved devices, 510(k) cleared, before adopting them into clinical practice. This work occurs alongside evaluating how to integrate the medical device into the hospital system’s diagnostic paradigms, including in relation to quality improvement programs. Companies can have a role but there are 415 US hospital systems (comprising ~5,000 hospitals), and each has a bespoke process and ever-changing set of
Read More
SURGE Therapeutics Raises $26M to Accelerate Intraoperative Immunotherapy
What You Should Know:
- SURGE Therapeutics (SURGE) recently announced the completion of a $26 million Series A financing led by Camford Capital, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Intuitive Ventures, Pitango HealthTech, 8VC, Alumni Ventures, and the Cancer Research Institute.
- The funds will be used to accelerate the development of the SURGE™ intraoperative immunotherapy approach, expand the team, and initiate clinical trials for its injectable biodegradable hydrogel.
Using
Read More
Brain Health: The Next Frontier in the Fight Against Dementia
There are differing views on the value of cognitive screening of older adults in a primary care setting. Many providers point to the lack of disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s Dementia and related dementias (ADRD) as a reason to not universally screen older adults for cognitive deficits. If I don’t have anything to give my patients to get better, what’s the point in revealing they might be at risk of dementia, or that they have early disease? Is dementia a ‘normal’ or ‘expected’ part
Read More
Rippl Launches with $35M to Transform Mental Health for Seniors
What You Should Know:
- Rippl, a new mental health startup focused on caring for seniors with dementia and other neurocognitive conditions, launched today with $32M in seed round funding led by ARCH Venture Partners and General Catalyst. The round also includes investment from GV, F-Prime Capital, and Mass General Brigham Ventures.
- Rippl will use its seed funding to hire and train a team of clinicians, build technology, and open a Washington state-based clinical support center to launch
Read More
RWJUH Opens Center for Innovation for Medical Research
What You Should Know:
- Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), an RWJBarnabas Health facility, and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) launched a new model for medical research and innovation today at the grand opening of its Center for Innovation, located on the main campus of the hospital.
- The Center for Innovation is a partnership between RWJUH and Rutgers RWJMS to bring together clinicians, researchers and private industry to invent and develop new
Read More
Pharmacogenomics: The Key to Unlocking the Future of Personalized Healthcare
Pharmacogenomics—the study of genetic influences on an individual's response to therapeutic medications—is an area of personalized medicine that is gaining momentum. Although pharmacogenomics has been around for a while, providers, health plans, pharmacists and legislators are developing a greater appreciation for its potential benefits and applications.
How Can Pharmacogenomics Improve Outcomes?
By considering a person’s DNA in treatment options, providers can determine how an
Read More
