Hi friends,
This week: Bayer commits to digital health, regulators are being helpful, and Peter Thiel goes all-in on clinical trials.
News Bites 🥪
💊 Pharma giant Bayer moves deeper into digital health with new business unit - Fresh off the news that Bayer’s venture arm led Ada’s $90m series B, the pharma giant says partnerships are the future, and they want to be the ones to close the gaps in precision health.
🇪🇺 The European Commission and WHO launch landmark digital health initiative to strengthen global health security - We’ll forgo the ‘EU/WHO/Who?/Ew…’ joke for this one: the EU and the WHO are set to take on a digital health co-leadership role, with an upscaled version of the EU’s COVID-19 digital health certificate the first of many initiatives to come…
💸 Ministers accused of holding up IT skills funding - Like Pigeon, the Federation of Clinical Informatics knows tech skills matter. Unlike Pigeon, they’ve accused the secretary of state of delaying funding to pay for tech skills. (Pigeon’s gotta hand it to the FCI, they’re not giving the DHSC a moment’s peace.)
⚙️Re:Cognition Health opens concussion clinic featuring brain-scanning tech - A blow to the head is no laughing matter, something that the teams at Myndspan and Re:Cognition Health both know well. Now they’ve partnered to launch a new concussion clinic using a procedure called magne…magnetocelp…magnetoselloph……err…brain scanning.
🔬Peter Thiel invests in UK healthtech speeding up clinical trials - For any number of reasons, clinical trials are a pain in the proverbial to run. So any company that can legitimately claim to improve the process could make a killing from investors. Step forward, Palantir boss and Paypal founder Peter Thiel, whose involvement speaks volumes for what Lindus is doing.
☁️ Google Cloud is partnering with Mayo Clinic as it tries to expand use of generative A.I. in health care - Here’s the deal: you take your mound of patient data, throw Google Cloud at it, and Bob’s your uncle, you’ve got a chat-bot that can answer any question you throw at it….or at least that’s the idea. It’s up to Mayo Clinic to make it a reality.
🛣️ New regulatory pathway set to support safe patient access to innovative medical technologies - Mooted back in March, the MHRA and NICE have officially announced the IDAP, to help innovators get solutions to patients sooner by offering a ‘multi-partner support service’, which Pigeon believes may be code for: ‘advice’.
What to listen to (and watch?) 🔊/👀
🐦 Healthtech Pigeon - Deal or No Deal - Join James, Jessica and Dama Health’s Elena Rueda as they take a deep-dive into the week’s healthtech stories.
🔊 The Healthtech Podcast #306 LLMs will save healthcare, with Rob Brisk, NHS cardiologist & computer scientist - James is joined by Rob Brisk, an NHS cardiologist. Rob has been a scientific advisor on to the Department of Health during COVID, overseen the life sciences research programme for the UK's most powerful supercomputer, and is now bringing large language models to the point of care in his role as Chief Scientific Officer of Eolas Medical.
🖥️ Davina McCall's Pill Revolution - Pigeon’s favourite TV host highlights the data gap around the side effects of contraception, featuring contributions from this week’s Pigeon podcast guest, Dama Health’s Elena Rueda.*
🔊 Innovation Agency S21 Ep45: New ERA for Maternity Safety - Dr Michael Watts and midwife Caroline Lacey join the podcast to talk about ERA, a patient-centred, emergency-support software system designed to improve safety in maternity.
Events 📅
🇺🇸 Crossing the Atlantic: US & UK digital health - SomX & KHP Ventures
🕑 June 12th 6:30pm-9pm
📍 Governor’s Hall, St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster, London
🔓 Decoding the Future of Women - Femtech Labs
🕑 June 12, 8am-10pm
📍 Wellcome Collection, Euston Road, London
Use the code ‘SOMX15’ at checkout for an exclusive discount on your ticket.
🥐 HealthTech Breakfast Club - Albion VC
🕑 June 13, 4-10pm
📍 PUBLIC Hall, Westminster, London
🔬Discovery Park Innovation Summit - Discovery Park
🕑 June 22, 9.30am-4.30pm
📍 Discovery Park, Sandwich
🖥️ Can digital education help stroke survivors to have better outcomes? A perspective from UCLH - Cognitant
🕑 June 22, 8.15-9.00am
📍 Online
🗺️ Navigating changes to the GP Contract - Klinik Healthcare Solutions
🕑 June 22, 12-1pm
📍 Online
Opportunities 🕵️♀️
💽 Bid and Sales Co-ordinator, EMIS Health - One of the biggest EHR providers in healthcare is looking for someone to make them even bigger. If you’re a natural with bids and selling, get in there now.
🏦 Director, Relationship Management - Life Sciences & Healthcare, SVB UK - An incredible role for those with a knack for relationship management and a passion for healthcare. The now HSBC-owned SVB UK is looking for you!
🧾 Sales Lead, Accurx - Help Accurx build on their storming performance so far. Sales professionals, apply now!
🥼 GP | Video Consulting | Work from home, Livi - GPs, if you’re looking for a change, Livi could be the place. Why not help support the delivery of the business’s telehealth operation.
🏎️ Project Manager (Innovation Accelerator), MHRA - Remember IDAP? We mentioned it earlier in this newsletter. Want to help deliver it? This is the role for you.
*Pigeon doesn’t know if anyone is in contact with Davina, but if they are, please could you ask her to make another series of ‘Don’t Try This at Home’?
Got news, jobs or events you think is worth coo-ing over? Let us know! Email us: news@healthtechpigeon.com
At SomX, we are clinicians, scientists, creatives and communicators dedicated to elevating healthtech and biotech. For our clients, we provide communications strategy, multimedia content marketing, public relations, events and branding/design services. Get in touch to find out how we can support your healthtech company.