InnovationRx: Refunding Healthcare Capital?

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meThere is a light at the end of the tunnel for healthcare startups looking to launch venture capital? That’s it Rock Health’s half-yearly funding reports are recommended. It found US a digital health startup It raised $5.7B in 266 deals in the first half of 2024. And, if these trends continue, this year could be on track to meet or exceed the funding level of years 2019 and 2023-back to "normal" after the peak of the epidemic.

This week HLTH hosted a panel discussion in New York (moderated by yours truly) with insights into the world of healthcare financing, including Laura Sillman NY Left Lane Capital, Parth Desai NY Capita Flareearth Vig Chandramouli NY Oak HC/FT. Here are some key takeaways:

What’s Hot: Wow! But how do you separate fact from hype? For starters, don’t be led by "We’re an AI company." What problem are you trying to solve? Be prepared for a longer due diligence process where investors focus on "quality". Currently, the financing party is in the back office and the workflow application. Consider automated invoicing, coding, and note taking.

Who pays: When it comes to AI applications, startups compete with legacy players, such as Epic Systems and Oracle Health (formerly Cerner), which build their own products. But health systems are not tied to accountability and are willing to pay double if a new product can provide a 3x return–a combination of revenue and savings.

Where’s the Exit: The impending presidential election means uncertainty in the market. We’ve seen a few healthcare IPOs, including Waystar and Tempus, but who knows when the IPO market will reopen. Your best exit option? Strategic M&A.

With $277 million in new funding, this startup hopes to unlock the secrets of biology

Over the past two decades, genome sequencing–the unraveling of the building blocks of DNA that make up our genetic code–has become an essential tool in medicine. It helped accelerate the development of a Covid-19 vaccine and led to new ways to treat cancer. It is also a key component of precision medicine–tailoring disease treatment to each patient’s unique biology.

With its DNA sequencing platform Aviti, San Diego-based startup Element Biosciences is among the many players in this R&D sandbox. On Thursday, the company announced that it had raised $277 million in D funding at a valuation of $1.03 billion. This is a timely benefit for Element.

Read more here.

Pipeline & Deal Updates

AI: Regard, which uses AI to provide doctor recommendations based on patient data, has announced a $61 million Series B round led by Oak HC/FT.

Plantable materials: Neuspera Medical, which has developed an implantable device that provides bladder control for incontinence patients, has announced a $23 million Series D round led by Vertex Ventures HC and Treo Ventures.

Cancer treatment: Thyme Care, a startup that helps patients navigate their cancer treatment journey and enter into value-based payment agreements, has raised $55 million in equity and $40 million in debt financing.

Cancer treatment: Scorpion Therapeutics, which develops precision cancer treatments, has raised a $150 million Series C round led by Frazier Life Sciences and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Blood tests: Truvian Health, a startup that creates benchtop blood testing equipment, has raised $74 million with Wittington Ventures and Great Point Ventures. The funding will go toward clinical trials as the company seeks FDA approval for the device.

Privacy: Freshpaint, a software startup that bridges the gap between healthcare marketing and patient privacy, has raised a $30.7 million Series B led by Threshold.

VA Pilot Writer: The Department of Veterans Affairs has selected Abridge and Microsoft’s Nuance as the two winners of its AI technology sprint challenge, meaning the two companies will enter into a pilot program agreement to deploy its automated AI medical writing software. "for testing and evaluation in a live VA environment," according to a federal press release.

This Startup raised $5.2 million to develop a blood test for cancer

More than 35,000 Americans are diagnosed with a blood cancer called multiple myeloma each year, but for decades doctors have had to rely on painful tests like bone marrow biopsies to diagnose the disease. to make the disease. Precision oncology company Predicta Biosciences hopes to change that by offering patients non-invasive, diagnostic tests from a simple blood draw.

Read more here.

Other health news

UnitedHealth Group has said that the impact of a cyberattack on the Change Healthcare group will cost the company between $2.3 billion and $2.45 billion in 2024.

Elevance Health’s Second-quarter profits hit $2.3 billion, despite the health insurer’s decline in Medicaid enrollees.

Manufacturers of blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs GLP-1 agonists, among others Lilly SY Novo Nordiskis exploring the use of the drug to treat other conditions ranging from sleep apnea to liver disease.

Here’s an overview of the companies working on competing weight loss pills, including: Boehringer Ingelheim SY Viking Therapeutics.

Pfizer is moving forward with a once-daily weight loss pill, danuglipron, after receiving promising data from a first-in-class trial. And the fate of the Swiss pharma giant Roche It rose this week after promising results were reported for an experimental weight loss pill.

An infected woman Endometriosis may have a "significantly increased" risk of developing ovarian canceraccording to a new study.

Elon Musk said his brainchild Neuralink is preparing to implant his brain chip into a second patient.

All over Forbes

nside Elon Musk’s Mad Dash to build a giant xAI supercomputer in Memphis

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Here is the value of JD Vance

What else do we read?

The nation’s 911 system is on the brink of a special emergency (KFF Health News)

As GLP-1 sales grow, insulin users fear Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly ( STAT ) will move without them

This childhood brain cancer is incurable – but immune therapy shows promise (Nature)