#157 - (Clinical) Trials and Tribulations 🧪
#157 - (Clinical) Trials and Tribulations 🧪
The one-minute healthtech roundup
Hi friends,
This week: Ups and downs in healthtech funding, are we pinning all of our hopes on tech?, and EMIS goes West.
News Bites 🥪
🙅🏼♂️ Digital Health Company Babylon Shutters U.S. Business, Lays Off Employees – Once seen as healthtech’s great success story, Babylon’s may be nearing the very end of its protracted downward journey. Could one of the company’s peers step in and provide the certainty and security its UK employees will be hoping for? Here’s hoping.
💰 Lindus Health, a U.K. clinical trials startup backed by Peter Thiel, raises $18M – Worthy cause? ✅ Hefty raise? ✅ High profile Investors? ✅ - Lindus Health are on a mission to speed up clinical trials. Having first trailed news of Peter Thiel’s (Paypal, Palantir) involvement back in June, they’ve now announced the closure of their series A. Amid a flurry of media interest, co-founder Michael Young found time to join the pigeons and tell us more. We’re glad he has his priorities straight….
🙏 'NHS staff just want tech that works' – Don’t we all…? What should be the world’s most obvious statement morphs into something of a rallying call to action in this article from a member of BT’s clinical advisory board.
🏷️ CMA provisionally clears US healthcare giant’s purchase of GP IT supplier EMIS - If you were worried that United Health’s acquisition of EMIS might stifle competition in the UK EPR market, then have no fear, the CMA is now confident the NHS won’t let that happen*, and has given the green light for the takeover.**
🤏 Major conditions strategy: case for change and our strategic framework - An all bells and whistles strategy for the management and treatment of major conditions in England pins a surprising amount of its hopes on technology, and in particular AI. Pigeon’s not saying it won’t work, but when it comes to government health strategies, ‘we’ll do more research into how AI can help…’ is starting to feel like a get out of jail free card… which ultimately explains stories like this: Gov uk announces £13m fund to boost use of AI in healthcare – IEEE AI/robotics experts comment
💊 Glasgow spinout Chemify raises £33.6m to 'digitise' chemistry - The league of companies using AI as part of the drug discovery process has gained a new member, and there’s a lot of cash flowing their way. Do ask: ‘What does Chemify intend to do with the cash?’. Don’t ask: ‘Will AI Replace Chemists?’
🤖The imperative for regulatory oversight of large language models (or generative AI) in healthcare - …and we were so close to finishing the newsletter without talking about LLMs. That said, this is a ‘can’t miss’ article from two of digital health’s leading lights about why we need to regulate LLMs in healthcare differently to other types of AI.
Got that BDE? (Big Data Energy)
Imperial College Health Partners hosted ‘Discover-NOW’ project is being scaled into a London-wide Secure Data Environment (SDE), part of the NHS sub-national Secure Data Environments (snSDEs), thanks to regional funding secured from NHS England. This will create one of the largest diverse data assets in the world and offer unparalleled opportunities for discovery to improve patient care. They want to hear the views of experts in the life sciences industry - If you are one, then respond to this survey
What to listen to 🔊
🐦 Healthtech Pigeon - (Clinical) Trials and Tribulations - Join Jessica, James and Huw as they aim for a paradigm shift in the week’s healthtech news and views. Keep an eye out for a cameo appearance from Lindus Health Cofounder Michael Young.
🔊 The Healthtech Podcast #316 Biotech Innovations Transforming Cancer Diagnosis, with Guido Baechler - James is joined by Dr Guido Baechler, CEO and Director at Mainz Biomed, a leading developer of market-ready molecular genetic diagnostic solutions for life-threatening conditions.
Events 📅
Health Features Launch Event - Youtube Health
🕣 September 7, 2.00-10.00pm
📍 YouTube UK HQ, 6 Pancras Square London
SomX Healthtech Talks: The promise of AI in Biotech - SomX & Google Cloud
🕣 11 September
📍6 Pancras Square London
CogX Festival
🕣 12-14 September
📍The O2, London
MedFIT - Fostering Innovation in Medtech
🕣 October 10, 8.30am-6.15pm
📍 Strasbourg Convention Centre, France
MedTech World Summit
🕣 19-20 October
📍 Valletta, Malta
Use the code ‘FlyingtoMedTechMalta’ for 25% off your ticket.
Opportunities 🕵️♀️
Health Tech Junior Reporter, Endpoints News - US based healthtech journalists, this is the role for you. Apply now to join one of the big dog publications in biotech, pharma and health.
Research Associates in Translational HealthTech - One for the healthtech loving grad student in your network: an exciting research role at HealthtechONE.
ECF Community Programme Manager, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - There’s a great opportunity to play a valuable role in a key digital health projects (including virtual wards) at this NHS Trust. Interested? Hit the apply button now.
Strategic Partnerships Specialists, HIMSS - For the healthtech veterans among us, HIMSS need no introduction. For the rest, just read the job ad.
Open Application, Doccla - Virtual Wards specialists Doccla don’t want just anyone, they wan’t you….but they’re open-minded about who you are, so drop them a line if you’re interested.
* ...any more than is already the case…
** Did someone say interoperability stories are boring…?
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.