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Hey, Old Guys!

BY KIM BELLARD

OK, how many of you had on your women-in-power bingo cards that, in 2022, Sheryl Sandberg would be out at Facebook but Queen Elizabeth II would still be Queen?  It’s the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, marking seventy years on the throne.  She’s getting a lot of love for that tenure, but it makes me think, geez, some people just don’t know when to step away.

Perhaps what sparked my cynicism about the Queen was an op-ed by Yuval Levin, Why Are We Still Governed by Baby Boomers and the Remarkably Old?  Dr. Levin is, of course, referring to the U.S., and he’s spot-on about our governance problem.  But I think the problem goes further: we have too many old people running our companies and major institutions as well.  

Whether it is, say, healthcare, education, or the military, we’re so busy protecting the past that we’re not really getting ready for the future.

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#HealthTechDeals Episode 33|Aledade, Tripp, Socially Determined, and Digital Diagnostics

The question of the day: does 25 people leaving a several 100-person company REALLY count as a “mass exodus”? In this episode, Jess and I find out! Hey – it’s the startup world, things explode all the time. Some new deals: Aledade raises $123 million; Tripp raises $11 million; Socially Determined raises $22.7 million; Digital Diagnostics raises $46.3 million.

-Matthew Holt

7WireVentures’ Lee Shapiro: What’s Ahead for Investment in Health Tech

By JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF HEALTH

What’s Lee Shapiro’s take on the health tech market’s state-of-play? 7wireVenture’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner stops by to talk early-stage investment, what’s hot and what’s not post-pandemic, and how he views the digital health funding frenzy of the past couple years which, one could argue, was kicked into high-gear by portfolio-company-slash-previous-employer Livongo.

Lee says there’s “enough broken business processes in healthcare to last a lifetime,” which means a lot of opportunity for consumer-minded health tech startups to change things, but does the recent slowdown in venture funding and pummeling of public market health tech stocks indicate that the category is in trouble before it even gets a chance to make a real impact? We get Lee’s opinion on whether or not the market is cooling, what he thinks will happen next with valuations, and what he views as the best way to scale a healthcare startup – particularly as we watch Glen Tullman run the ‘Livongo playbook’ at new business Transcarent. And, speaking of Glen… did Lee really teach him everything he knows?? We’re starting some trouble in this one!

#HealthTechDeals Episode 32| Hint Health, Moxe Health, uMotif, Fairtility, Circles

Shots have been fired. Hear the crickets? Maybe it’s the chirping from health technology twitter, particularly on the lack of deals? NO! That sound you hear is the stunning silence from our epic burns this episode. Shoutout to our new sponsor AHIP – check out the AHIP Conference 2022 taking place in Las Vegas! Common (the rapper) will be there. Tickets are $100 off with code THCB. Some deals: Hint Health raises $45 million; Moxe Health raises $30 million; uMotif raises $25 million; Fairtility raises $15 million; Circles raises $16 million.

An interview of, err, me by João Bocas

João Bocas is known as “The Wearables Expert” and has been talking, writing and innovating in health tech for a while. Last month he had me on his video series. It was a fun interview in which I talked about Flipping the Stack, the Continuous Clinic, and the slow pace of change in health care! With João’s permission I am reproducing that interview here–Matthew Holt

THCB Gang Episode 94, Thursday June 2

Joining Matthew Holt (@boltyboy) on #THCBGang on Thursday June 2 were regulars Grace Cordavano (@GraceCordovano); patient safety expert and all around wit Michael Millenson (@mlmillenson); and policy expert consultant/author Rosemarie Day (@Rosemarie_Day1). Gun control, hospital quality and much more all came up and were interlinked. Quite the conversation.

You can see the video below & if you’d rather listen than watch, the audio is preserved as a weekly podcast available on our iTunes & Spotify channels.

AI are (going to be) people too

BY KIM BELLARD

My heart says I should write about Uvalde, but my head says, not yet; there are others more able to do that.  I’ll reserve my sorrow, my outrage, and any hopes I still have for the next election cycle.  

Instead, I’m turning to a topic that has long fascinated me: when and how are we going to recognize when artificial intelligence (AI) becomes, if not human, then a “person”?  Maybe even a doctor.

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A deal on AHIP in Vegas!

I’m going to AHIP in Vegas next month and you should come too!

It’s time to be together again. It’s also time to save. Register for AHIP 2022 (formerly Institute & Expo), June 21 – 23 in Las Vegas with code THCB and save. Together, we’ll explore the ideas, innovations, and forward-thinking driving health care’s transformation. Check out the agenda and Register today with code THCB.

The Mental Health ‘Formulary of the Future’? Otsuka’s Work in DTx, Psychedelics, & More

By JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF HEALTH

Otsuka Pharmaceuticals is expanding its mental health formulary – looking beyond traditional medications to psychedelics, and to the “intersection of technology and psychiatry” with digital therapeutics currently in clinical trials for Major Depressive Disorder. Kabir Nath, Senior Managing Director of Otsuka’s Global Pharmaceutical Business, lets us in on the thinking behind these bold moves, why the pharma co is even innovating to expand the spectrum of treatments available for mental illness in the first place, and how soon these new therapies will reach patients.

“Follow the science” is a key undercurrent of this conversation, particularly as we talk through Otsuka’s investments in psychedelic medicine start-ups Compass Pathways and, more recently, Mindset. Kabir says the body of clinical evidence for these therapies is building and we get his prediction on when they might become more mainstream and readily available.

We also get his take on digital therapeutics (DTx) and the work Otsuka is doing with Click Therapeutics in Major Depressive Disorder. Their clinical trial, done in partnership with Verily, is the first-ever fully remote clinical trial conducted in this space, and the hope is that it not only generates evidence to support the emerging DTx category, but that it also sets a precedent for a new, tech-enabled way to run clinical trials.

This is just the beginning. There’s lots more on the innovations changing pharma and the future of mental health care in this one. Watch now!

British Doctor Suspended for falsely claiming she was “promised” a laptop. WTF!

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BY SAURABH JHA

If forced to choose Britain’s two biggest contributions to civilizations, I’d pick the Magna Carta and the vaguely instructional “fuck off.” If permitted a third, I’d choose “managerialism.” Brits are good at telling others what to do. Managerialism is how the Brits once ruled India. Buoyed by the colonial experience, British managers felt they could rule doctors. 

The new Viceroy, the manager-in-chief, is the General Medical Council (GMC). The GMC is a physician watchdog, funded by doctors, which works for the public good and is answerable to…well, I’ll get to that later. Their relevance rose exponentially when the psychopathic Dr. Harold Shipman, a charming, clinically adept, general practitioner, killed over two hundred patients. Never again, said the managers. They promised to keep the public safe from dodgy doctors with aspirations of Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd.

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