Brains over brawn
Elon Musk’s cranial implants are fetching headlines, but the past several weeks have witnessed waves of brain-related drug R&D, software approvals, diagnostic innovation, and research programs. In fact, neurology was one of the top five therapeutic areas for U.S. digital health startup investment in 2023—rising from ninth place in 2022—and accounted for nearly 8% of overall digital health funding in January of this year. Startups that sealed deals in January are building virtual memory clinics, wearable tracking capabilities for Parkinson’s disease, and brain stimulation for depression.
The need for neurological innovation can’t be overstated, with so much left to uncover about how our brains operate, age, heal, and respond to drugs (including the ever-popular GLP-1s). And with equity gaps prevalent in neurological care, this work is especially top-of-mind.
Headlines
Cigna To Sell Medicare Advantage Plans To BCBS Insurer For $3.3B
Cigna eats a $1.5B loss in long-awaited sale of MA business STAT
23andMe’s Fall From $6B To Nearly $0
High cash burn rates have put the publicly-traded company at risk of delisting The Wall Street Journal
FDA Creates ‘Super Office’ To Oversee Device Cybersecurity, Digital Health, And Supply Chain
A reorg to ensure policy consistency and raise the profile of digital health work MedTech Dive
Biden Administration To Launch Instacart Partnership
HHS partnership focuses on public education, research, and scaling existing programs The Hill
Talkspace, Bicycle Health Partner To Expand Therapeutic Offerings
Connecting the dots between mental health care and substance use disorder support MobiHealthNews
Mayo Clinic Is Helping Develop A Tool Providers Can Use To Curb Clinical Bias
Software would flag risks of inequitable outcomes due to patient race, gender, or sexual orientation MedCity News
Recent Funding
- In-home social care services and care coordination startup Accompany Health grabs $56M
- Cohere Health raises $50M to streamline and automate prior authorizations
- Avation Medical inks $22M for its wearable to treat urinary incontinence
- ArteraAI lands $20M for its AI-powered biomarkers for personalized prostate cancer treatment
- Foodsmart, a Rock Health port co, picks up $10M for its food-as-medicine telenutrition solution
- CARPL, a platform enabling radiologists to integrate AI into their workflows, collects $6M
- Valendo Health, an endocrinology practice management solution, secures $4M
- Pediatric monitoring, sleep, and wellness provider Harbor plucks $3.7M
- Aster seeds $2.4M for its practice management software for women+ health-focused clinics