Digital Health bits | August 23rd 2021
Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer
Google Dismantling Health Division
According to an internal memo obtained by Insider, an initiative to consolidate various healthcare initiatives within Google is shutting down.
This news comes a few days after healthcare IT company Cerner announced Google Health lead David Feinberg was joining its company as president and CEO.
Feinberg joined Google in 2018 to lead the initiative of organizing Google’s fragmented health initiatives, which at the time overlapped throughout different businesses. The reincarnation of Google Health also hoped to further offer AI and other new technologies to traditional healthcare systems to better digitalize their processes.
Akili Expands Prescription Digital Therapeutics Portfolio with TALi Partnership
Akili Interactive, the developer behind the first FDA-approved game-based prescription treatment for ADHD, announced this week that it is partnering with TALi Digital, an Australian-based digital health company, to license its attention-improving game software in the U.S. provided FDA approval.
Under the deal, the two companies will work together to execute clinical trials of TALi’s video game-based technology — designed to screen for and improve early childhood attention impairments — in pediatric ADHD and pursue FDA regulatory clearance. Upon securing FDA approval, Akili will lead the treatment’s U.S. commercialization and roll-out.
The agreement complements Akili’s own flagship product, EndeavorRx, a game-based digital therapeutic to improve attention function in children with ADHD that received FDA approval last year.
TALi’s technology, marketed under TALi DETECT® and TALi TRAIN® (screening and attention training video games, respectively) has been shown to improve attention in neurodiverse and neurotypical children, especially in areas like numeracy skills, selective attention, and classroom behavior. The technology is currently available in Australia, India, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
New Digital Therapeutics Company Takes a 'Swing' at Fibromyalgia
Swing Therapeutics, a new San Francisco, CA-based digital therapeutics company, is taking a "swing" at fibromyalgia with an exclusive license from the university of Manitoba, a breakthrough device designation from FDA, VC funding, and the launch of a real-world study.
Swing is one of a growing number of companies exploring the digital therapeutics market, which has gone absolutely gangbusters this year.
The company's real-world study is based on a clinically validated program that it licensed from the University of Manitoba. Swing launched with a $9 million seed investment from JAZZ Venture Partners, a firm that has made a name for itself as a lead investor in the digital therapeutics space, if a look at its company roster is any indication.
Swing’s program is designed to digitally deliver acceptance and commitment therapy, a form of cognitive behavioral therapy. Swing is leveraging existing clinically validated approaches to treatment as well as completing its own clinical trials specifically to show the safety and efficacy of its program. In addition to a completed pilot study and the recently-launched real-world study, Swing is planning a multicenter, randomized controlled trial to support FDA clearance for its solution.
Unlike conditions where there is an identifiable trigger such as arthritis or an injury, fibromyalgia often arises without a cause. In patients suffering from this condition, the brain is perceiving pain that doesn't have an identifiable trigger point.
AI-enabled digital platform for mental health launched in India
Indian cybersecurity consultant Panacea Infosec, along with human resource R&D firm Panacea Bioedge, has collaborated with Healmed Solutions, a mental health tech company in the US, to develop an AI-powered online mental health platform in India.
Panacea Healmed offers a range of mental health assessment tests for individuals, healthcare organisations, corporations and educational enterprises.
Its mental health assessment system for healthcare providers can automate up to 80% of their workflow by capturing a patient's history and converting it into an electronic medical record. The platform enables psychiatrists to review quantified, identified, and colour-coded symptoms through a dashboard, assisting in their medical decision making. It also features a digital assistant that interacts discreetly with patients.
Meanwhile, its corporate offering of a mental health assessment tool helps employers to alleviate staff burnout and supports employees to self-manage their own mental wellbeing.
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Comprehensive “clinic-on-the-wrist” digital health sensor system debuts
Rockley Photonics, a silicon photonics company based in Oxford England and Pasadena, has debuted a sensor module that can enable wearable devices to monitor multiple biomarkers, including core body temperature, blood pressure, body hydration, alcohol, lactate, and glucose trends, among others. The module (exterior above far left and mid-right) combines with hardware and application firmware for consumer applications, such as wrist-worn diagnostics.
The mid-left-hand view shows the reverse (skin) side of the module with the photonic ICs and application firmware. Current sensors use green-light emitting diodes (LEDs) and the Rockley system uses an infrared (IR) spectrophotometer that generates a large number of discrete laser outputs from a single silicon chip covering a broad optical band which can penetrate underneath the skin. The module communicates with custom cloud-based analytical engines via a Rockley smartphone app (far right).
Obviously, Rockley is seeking to commercialize this through partnerships with consumer electronics companies in digital health and fitness monitoring. Rockley is a key supplier to Apple for sensors.
New partnership gives Privia Health access to Babyscripts' remote monitoring tools and educational content
Virtual obstetric care platform Babyscripts is partnering with physician enablement company Privia Health, allowing physicians in Privia’s women’s health division to use Babyscripts with their pregnant and postpartum patients.
Babyscripts’ remote monitoring tools let providers monitor maternal mental health, hypertension, preeclampsia and gestational diabetes, while its app provides educational content for expecting mothers, as well as appointment reminders and obstetrician-approved nutritional and medical guidelines.
Privia and Babyscripts said the goal of their partnership is to reduce inequities in maternal health outcomes and lower maternal mortality rates.
Sharecare builds out patient education platform with new tools
Digital health platform Sharecare is expanding its suite of patient education tools, including a chatbot where users can ask condition-specific questions and a virtual assistant that can guide patients through research and treatment plans.
The company also announced a “social aggregator” that curates social media content about patients' health needs and expanded interactive data visualizations.
Sharecare said these tools reflect patients’ growing interest in finding health information online and through social media.
"These recent additions to our product suite were designed not only to align with emerging consumer trends and preferences in today's complex health landscape, but also to foster more productive connections between people and the healthcare brands they trust," Laura Klein, executive vice president and general manager of consumer solutions at Sharecare, said in a statement.
Why it matters: Most Americans are turning to the internet to research health conditions and symptoms. A 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation survey found 70% of U.S. adults reported using the internet or their smartphones to research symptoms at least a few times a year.
But it’s difficult for some to figure out which sources of information are fair and accurate. A 2018 survey commissioned by communications and marketing firm Weber Shandwick and KRC Research revealed 52% of those surveyed who look for health information online were concerned about false or misleading information, and 83% were concerned about misleading medical information on social media.
DocSpace, Houston-Based Digital Health Startup, Raises $1.2 Million to Help Clinicians Build and Launch Independent Practices
DocSpace, a digital health commerce platform that helps clinicians start, manage, and grow tech-enabled private practices, announced $1.2 million in seed funding led by Slauson & Co.
DocSpace offers a turn-key solution to help more than 4.5 million therapists, dentists, physicians, and optometrists automate their entire private practice formation process from end-to-end. DocSpace’s HIPAA-compliant infrastructure provides everything a clinician needs to form a new business, from digital health storefronts with custom themes to back office management tools like scheduling, video conferencing, banking, payroll, and bookkeeping.
Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer