Rock Weekly – NEW
- Expert analysis and proprietary data (e.g., longitudinal funding data, consumer adoption) 100%
- Insightful takes from the Rock Health Advisory team 100%
- Spotlight on startups, deals, partnerships, and emerging trends 100%
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Acquisitions to make your heart beat
Wild times in the world of remote cardiac monitoring. Following Philips’s $2.8B acquisition of BioTelemetry in December, in the past few days Hillrom announced a $375M deal for Bardy Diagnostics, and Boston Scientific shared plans to snap up Preventice Solutions for $925M. All three acquired companies offer connected patch devices to monitor and diagnose heart rhythm disorders. What should we make of this rapid $4B+ in acquisitions of a trio of competitors? For one, there aren’t many startups remaining in the remote ECG market. More broadly, it’s clear that remote patient monitoring is going to be the standard of care for patients with heart rhythms disorders.
Digital health’s game-changing year: 2020 funding recap
2020’s stress test to our healthcare system created what felt like a fast forward button for digital health, with unprecedented growth in funding, adoption, policymaking, and national attention.
Haven hits the road
Five days into 2021, it’s out with the old, and in with the new. Or in this case, out with Haven, and in with Amazon Care. For those following the Haven saga—aka the Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan Chase healthcare joint venture—the news yesterday of the organization’s dissolution didn’t come as a huge surprise. The original launch three years ago promised a new era for employer-driven innovation. But since those early days, reports of executive turnover and the continued prioritization of independent healthcare objectives—most notably by Amazon—seemed to crowd out chances of collective progress. Now that the writing on the wall is official for this employer joint venture, we look forward to additional efforts from each company more closely aligned to their strengths.
“Never let a crisis go to waste”
Whew, 2020. We…made it? Almost? It’s hard to fathom that we are approaching the end of this unfathomable year. But it’s probably safe to say that those of us in digital health feel a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to play a pivotal role in improving healthcare across the board. For this final Rock Weekly of the year, we’re sharing a roundup of the stories that shaped the wild ride of 2020
Three more unicorns join the herd
Entrepreneurs are riding the last funding waves of 2020—and Olive, Everlywell, and Virta Health just caught some big ones. With this latest funding in tow, they are digital health’s three newest unicorns. However, the pressure to decide whether to go public, remain private (and continue to acquire), or aim for a strategic exit looms on the horizon.
A small bright spot
With another COVID-19 surge here in time for the holiday season, a small bright spot has been the efforts of the digital health sector to help beat the virus and put us on a path to some semblance of normalcy. New developments include X-ray AI to detect signs of COVID on the lungs, and to double-check ventilator tube placement in hospitalized COVID patients.
The other shoe drops: Amazon Pharmacy is here
It's never more clear that a market has come of age than when Amazon stakes their claim—and last week, it was digital pharmacy’s turn. While the announcement of Amazon Pharmacy resulted in a flurry of headlines, the news itself was a bit anticlimactic given their acquisition of PillPack back in 2018. But now that Amazon Pharmacy is here, what will this mean for other online pharmacies?
The platform wars wage on
The world over, all eyes are focused on the momentous announcements from Pfizer and Moderna that their COVID-19 vaccines have shown early signs of success. The race continues to validate the results, distribute the vaccines, and restore some semblance of normalcy.
‘Tis the season for SPACs
Is it just us, or do SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies) seem to be everywhere lately? A nontraditional route to an IPO, this “blank check” option has reemerged in 2020 as an easier way to go public in uncertain times. Over the summer, it was acute care telemedicine company SOC Telemed. Then came Hims, Clover, and Augmedix.
Movers and shakers
With over $49B invested in startups over the past ten years—and $9.4B so far in this year alone—digital health innovation has matured, scaled, and is now delivering the industry disruption that's long been promised. Digitally-enabled business models are beginning to shift the balance of power among incumbents and new entrants, creating new opportunities, competitive strategies, and transfers of value all over the map. Our latest post breaks down who’s who and what they’re up to in healthcare’s new world order.