Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess is in Las Vegas while I’m all the way in Tokyo for Health 2.0 Japan. In Episode 102, Proteus Digital (finally) announces that they’re running out of money. Does this put the whole category of digital therapeutics at risk? In other news, Seema Verma’s jewelry was stolen and she wants taxpayers to pay her back! How is she going to survive this? And find out what’s going on in Tokyo at Health 2.0 Japan—a whopping 50 startups pitched in a contest yesterday and we’re really seeing the coming of age for this market. —Matthew Holt
Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 99 | (Reverse) Takeover Edition with Bayer G4A
Today on Health in 2 Point 00… hold on, where’s Jess? On Episode 99, I do a reverse takeover with Priyanka Kashyap and Sophie Park at Bayer’s office in Berlin. Priyanka tells us about what Bayer G4A is doing these days with the 5 startups in their Advance Track: Blackford Analysis in radiology; Carepay and RelianceHMO improving affordability and access for patients in Africa; NeuroTracker, which is in the neuro space but is working with the oncology team at Bayer; and Prevencio, a diagnostic solution in the cardiovascular space. Sophie also gives us a rundown of the 6 startups in the Growth Track at G4A: Wellthy, a digital therapeutics company out of India; Litesprite, for mental health; BioLum, a pulmonology startup working on detecting nitric oxide levels in the blood; Upside Health with its chronic pain management software; and finally Visotec and Okko Health in ophthalmology. —Matthew Holt
Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 98 | Connected Health, Pear Therapeutics & the Sutter Settlement
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess and I are at Connected Health in Boston. On Episode 98, Jess asks me about Sandoz breaking up with Pear Therapeutics; Papa raising $10 million to send college students to keep seniors company (and I’m bitter); and the massive news of the Sutter settlement after they were sued for price fixing and monopoly behavior. Catch us at HLTH in Vegas in a couple of weeks, too. —Matthew Holt
Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 97 | Walmart and Fertility
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess is in Berlin for the Bayer G4A Signing Day where they’re announcing which startups are going to get deals and Glen Tullman is doing a fireside chat with Eugene Borukhovich. In Episode 97, Jess and I talk about Walmart and fertility. Fertility benefits startup Progyny files for IPO and I’m blown away by this relatively new company. Another startup—Halle Tecco’s Natalist—raises $5M to send care boxes to help women get pregnant. Finally, Jess has a conspiracy theory, noticing that Walmart is sneaking into all aspects of health tech… Walmart is expanding Grand Rounds, partnering with Doctor On Demand and HealthSCOPE to offer telehealth to their employees, Sam’s Club is offering $1 telehealth visits to members, and they just announced a partnership with Embold Health for employees in the southeast. Finally, I’ll be at Society for Participatory Medicine next week in Boston—see you all there. —Matthew Holt
Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 96 | Amazon Care, Echo, OneDrop & more
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess and I catch up on loads of news in health tech. In this episode, Jess asks me about Amazon Care, doing telehealth, house calls, urgent care, drug delivery for their employees—could it change health delivery? Also, Eko raises $20 million for their smart stethoscope; Bayer leads a $40 million round for OneDrop’s blood glucose meter; GoodRx buys telehealth company HeyDoctor; Rock Health investing $10M in InsideRx, and an undisclosed amount to Arine; and Peloton IPO’s today and everyone’s looking at it as a healthcare company (but no, it’s not). We end on some gossip, so tune in. —Matthew Holt
Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 95 | Health 2.0 Wrap-Up Edition
Jess and I are at Health 2.0 for Episode 95 of Health in 2 Point 00! To wrap up the conference, Jess and I talk about Jonathan Bush’s reappearance in health care on the stage at Health 2.0, with Firefly Health, with echoes of this direction in primary care by Tony Miller on the insurance panel. We talk about all the winners at Health 2.0, including the RWJF Challenge winners, Ooney with Prehab Pal and Social AI Impact Lab, and Omny who won Launch. My favorites from the conference were Indu Subaiya’s Unacceptables panel with two amazing speakers, Melissa Hanna, CEO of Mahmee & Joia Crear Perry, Founder and President of the National Birth Equity Collaborative. Catch highlights from Jess’s panel on social movements in health care as well! —Matthew Holt
Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 94 | Healthy.io, Smile Direct Club, and Period Tracking?
On Episode 94 of Health in 2 Point 00, Jess asks me about Healthy.io’s $60 million raise for at-home urine testing for kidney diseases, with the NHS on the hook & coming to the US, and Smile Direct Club going public with a $9 billion valuation—but quickly tanked (although to $7 billion). In other news, there’s a period tracker scandal with Maya and MIA Fem apps sharing sensitive data about women’s cycles and sexual activity with Facebook. Find out what Jess & I are looking forward to at Health 2.0 this week as well. See you there! —Matthew Holt
Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 93 | Ginger, VillageMD, & Health Recovery Solutions
The drought is over! On Episode 93 of Health in 2 Point 00, Jess and I talk deals, deals, deals. Ginger, which provides digital mental health services, raises $35 million and is growing quite fast; VillageMD, one of numerous companies who are trying to figure out a new way to do primary care, raises $100 million; Health Recovery Solutions, which does remote patient monitoring, gets $10 million. In other news, Livongo’s stock price collapsed a little bit, but it was crazy when it first came out so now prices are more “normal”; uBiome files for bankruptcy, and Tula Health’s $2.5 million raise gets quite possibly the best press release we’ve ever seen (you’ve got to hear this). —Matthew Holt
Health in 2 Point 00 Episode 92, Takeover Edition | Louise Schaper, HIC 2019 Australia
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, we have another takeover edition! On Episode 92, Jess talks to Louise Schaper, CEO of the Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA) at HIC 2019. Louise’s key takeaway from the conference is that health tech in Australia is focused on humanity and improving outcomes for all people. Jess also asks Louise about the Australian Digital Health Agency’s MyHealthRecord, an online summary of individuals’ health information. It’s got a great participation rate with 90% of Australians opted in, but it’s not being utilized as much as it could be. Finally, Louise debunks some of the chatter around HealthEngine’s data scandal in which they were caught sharing health data with law firms. The thing is, the press has sold it as if they have full access to your medical data and has sold that, but that’s not the case.
Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 91| Babylon, MetaMe, & CVS CarePass
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess is reporting back to us from the future… On Episode 91, Jess asks Matthew about Babylon and MetaMe’s recent raises and CVS rolling out their new CarePass service. It’s been weeks and we haven’t had any more IPO’s, but Babylon’s $550 million raise—the largest ever in digital health, bringing its valuation to $2 billion—comes pretty close. Babylon is big and complex in what it offers, but at its core, it is an AI-based symptom checker. In the UK, they’re working with primary care doctors and in China, they’re working with insurance companies, but this latest round of funding points to where they’ll be focusing in the US. In other news, MetaMe raised $3.8 million to create a hypnosis-based digital therapeutic for IBS treatment and there’s been a lot going on in this space. Finally, now that CVS has finished its pilot, it will be rolling out CarePass nationwide. Do they have a shot at competing with Amazon Prime? —Matthew Holt
