Rock Weekly – NEW

As details of Google's healthcare strategy come into focus, news of the company's $2.1B Fitbit purchase last week sent the industry into a tizzy. The deal is more than a pure wearables play—it bolsters Google’s research efforts and connects the dots with employers and health insurers. And while the duo claims users’ health data won’t be shared for ads, critics warn there's reason for concern.

US consumers have increasingly begun to expect the benefits of technology to improve their healthcare experiences. In 2019, consumer adoption of digital health tools leveled off near last year’s high water mark—but the data on specific population segments paint a much more nuanced picture for healthcare innovators.

These days, the life sciences industry is all in on digital health. Or is it? On one hand, Abbot is integrating its CGM with Omada’s platform, Fitbit is linking up with two pharma players for early AFib detection, and Merck is testing machine learning to predict drug shortages. On the other, Novartis’ Sandoz is ending commercialization efforts with Pear Therapeutics—an indicator of just how tricky successful pharma-DTx alliances can be.

Out of the crop of Medicare Advantage startups, Devoted Health says it’ll be the first to cover the Apple Watch as a fitness benefit. This comes as tech companies bet that more seniors will adopt technologies to monitor their health. Apple isn't the only one eyeing the growing senior care market—Fitbit is edging into the space, too.

Earlier this year, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan reflected on the challenges of bringing tech to pharma: “there’s a lot of talk and very little in terms of actual delivery of impact.” Now, Novartis and Microsoft are partnering in pursuit of that very impact to use AI to accelerate drug discovery. Elsewhere in the health tech crossover, Alphabet hired former FDA head honcho Dr. Robert Califf to lead strategy for both Verily and Google Health.

Digital health is on track for its second largest funding year ever, with $5.5B invested across the first three quarters of 2019. Against the backdrop of nine $100M+ mega deals, both behavioral and women’s health are on the rise—fueled by increased funding, larger deals, more later stage companies, and a strong pipeline of early stage innovation.

Digital solutions are changing how medications are delivered—from precision drug dosing to rightsizing regimens. To that end, we’re excited to share our two newest investments: InsightRX and Arine. InsightRX enables clinicians to individualize treatment at the point of care—helping identify not only the right drug for the right patient, but also the right dose at the right time. And Arine generates timely, personalized recommendations to ensure patients are on the safest and most effective meds. We're honored to welcome their teams to the Rock Health family!

No commitment issues here—Google and Mayo Clinic announced a 10-year collaboration to put Mayo’s patient data in the cloud, expand AI capabilities, and build a Google office in Rochester. We've seen a slew of such partnerships as big tech vies for healthcare’s cloud business nationwide. Meanwhile, Apple launched three new studies with leading medical researchers to explore whether its Watch is a meaningful tool for monitoring women’s health, hearing, and mobility.

Regulations that enable patients to summon medical records through consumer apps aim to usher in an era of choice and convenience. But not everyone sees eye to eye on the consequences. Some industry players are becoming more vocal about privacy concerns—“patient privacy can’t be retrieved once it’s lost”—while others argue the shift allows patients to push back on paternalism in medicine.

There’s been a lot of talk about putting health records in the palm of patients’ hands via APIs. But so far, they've been slow to adopt them. Two potential reasons for the trend: the apps have limited functionality, and health systems haven’t done enough to market them just yet.