Christine Aylward

Anne Wojcicki, CEO of 23andMe, has announced plans to take the genetic testing company private. This strategic move aims to provide more flexibility in navigating regulatory challenges and to accelerate growth opportunities. The decision follows a trend of health tech companies seeking private ownership to focus on long-term objectives. Wojcicki highlighted the importance of this shift to maintain the company's commitment to innovation and customer-centric services. Taking 23andMe private reflects a bold step towards enhancing its position in the rapidly evolving genomics industry. Read more about this exciting development here: https://lnkd.in/gdrC3a64 #genomics #IPO #privatisation #23andMe

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I’ve had the chance to go deep with a number of digital health alum, healthcare mentors and #corporate innovation partners over the past few days. A few themes to share:   1. Digital will change healthcare. Period. How is hard. But it will happen and the best are continuing to push ahead. 2. What keeps companies in the S&P 500 for 50 years or more? Partnerships and innovation. This is why large systems must practice the hard art of both partnership and partnership towards innovation. For startups, partnership reps may be more important than brand. 3. There is a difference between needs and behaviors that startups need to understand, especially in Healthcare where incentives, process, practices are complex. Finding who pays early is not only essential but existential. 4. Don’t optimize for valuation, optimize for value. Over the long-run, this is what will matter. In Healthcare, today value will have to tie to ROI. Pharma, providers, payors are under pressure. Your solution needs to be must-have and drive ROI.   MC Healthcare was launched over 5 years ago to accelerate industry/startup intelligence and collaboration and commercial partnerships for digital health startups and industry (payors, providers, pharma). Calling startups to apply. Want to be a partner to find and work with the best? DM me directly.

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The (Healthcare) Ground Beneath Our Feet… This year it is likely that over $10 billion will be invested in the digital health sector – a robust amount, no doubt, but inconsequential when compared to the amount of capital tied up in healthcare real estate assets, which is estimated to be $1.2 trillion by Jones Lang Lasalle. Of that amount, approximately $790 billion is in the hospital sector while the remaining $490 billion is in medical office assets. It is estimated that there are 48.6k facilities with 3.4 billion square feet of healthcare real estate, 42% of which are owned by REITs and another 33% held by other private investment vehicles. Much of the digital health investment is meant to make the physical healthcare infrastructure more productive: greater operating efficiencies, greater patient throughput, more relevant personalized care models with better outcomes. As the healthcare system is being pushed to be more distributed to lower cost sites of care, accelerated now by the rapid proliferation of automation and AI capabilities, the potential impact on healthcare infrastructure assets will be profound. Thoughts on what that might look like... https://lnkd.in/eTfAdUbS #digitalhealth Flare Capital Partners

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Boston is home to some of the world’s most groundbreaking health institutions and research hubs, driving innovation in medicine and healthcare for decades. Each of these organizations plays a crucial role in advancing health tech and shaping the future of medical science: Harvard Medical School – Leading the way in health sciences, Harvard Medical School is training the next generation of medical innovators through cutting-edge research. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) – Known for pioneering research and impactful clinical trials across various health tech areas, MGH continues to set standards in medical excellence. Brigham and Women's Hospital Women’s Hospital – Focused on translational medicine, BWH deeply engages in clinical research that bridges lab discoveries to patient care. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard – This powerhouse in genomics and bioinformatics is advancing personalized medicine by conducting large-scale research in genetics and disease. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute – A global leader in cancer research, Dana-Farber is at the forefront of developing innovative oncology treatments that save lives. Boston Children's Hospital – Known for groundbreaking advancements in pediatric care, Boston Children's Hospital is a beacon of hope for young patients and their families. These institutions form the backbone of Boston's vibrant health tech ecosystem, collectively making strides toward a healthier, more innovative future. 🌐✨ #BostonHealthTech #InnovationEcosystem #MedicalResearch #PersonalizedMedicine #HealthcareInnovation #Innolytics

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Some VC investors believe that brick and mortar - referring to a physical presence of some kind - should be avoided at all costs. Yet, the track record of clinic and hybrid care businesses in health care indicates otherwise. ==> One Medical (sold for $3.9 billion to Amazon), Oak Street (bought by CVS for $10.6 billion), Lifestance (IPO at $7.5 billion market cap), and PE-backed Premise Health (acquired by OMERS Private Equity for $1.1 billion) If a clinic is indicated as the optimal way to deliver care for that patient population, there are creative ways to build and operate them. Full article below with advice and strategies on how to build and operate hybrid clinics from my teammate Anarghya Vardhana from Maveron, Amir Dan Rubin from OneMedical Group, Steven Eidelman from Modern Animal and more!

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TLDR - if you’re a early-stage investor, builder or health care provider that believes the below facts... we at Conduit Venture Labs have a stealth venture in the oven w/ Krisna Bhargava, PhD (let's connect). 🦠 Environmental factors are responsible for ~90% of chronic disease. https://lnkd.in/gSJPGXVs 🥺 Primary care does not have the time nor education to screen environmental exposure. https://lnkd.in/gJ5GtHMV 🚀 Functional/integrative care is growing at ~23% CAGR but is unaffordable to most people. https://lnkd.in/gWwuChYk

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It was wonderful to be in conversation with Madison Mills of Yahoo Finance at their annual Invest conference earlier this week. We covered everything from the venture outlook for 2025, impact of elections on women's health investing and innovation, and more. Full clip and summary below 👇 https://lnkd.in/gS67sc2Y

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AI and Med Tech in Focus   AI System Developed to Identify Pathology in Tissues Engineers at Washington State University have developed an AI tool that uses images of human and animal tissue to detect abnormalities faster and more accurately than people. The AI algorithm was trained using images from past studies that involved kidney, testes, ovarian, prostate, breast and lymph node abnormalities. The new model detected disease in minutes—current processes take humans several hours and require specialized teams to check each other’s work. It was also found to be more accurate, sometimes detecting instances that humans had missed. The engineers designed the system to handle the processing load of the high-resolution gigapixel images by breaking them down into smaller tiles but still retaining the overall context of the tissue sample—akin to the zoom feature on a microscope or phone camera. Aside from getting diagnostic results more accurately and quickly, the new system also shows promise in epigenetics (the study of molecular processes that change gene behavior without changing underlying DNA). Epigenetic researchers can perform analyses and get results that used to take a year or more in just a couple of weeks. VC Investors are always adjusting their "Play Book" with a variety of options for investing. Mikal Ventures is one of those alternatives, offering curated solutions to real world problems. Reach out if you have questions on how we can be of assistance and bookmark https://mikalventures.com/ for additional insights and information.

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According to the latest report from Rock Health, digital health funding in Q1 2024 totaled $2.7B across 133 deals, with an average deal size of $20.6M. It doesn’t break out device-related investments, but most medtech founders I meet these days are being forced to chase tiny rounds made up of endless little checks, consuming valuable energy and slowing their progress. The benign neglect of this next generation of diagnostic and therapeutic devices is counterproductive and surprising. Given the crowded virtual care market, for example, I’d expect more such companies would be exploring medtech partnerships, investments or acquisitions that'd enable them to back integrate into delivering sharper, and more differentiated, care and treatment. This is exactly what Maverix Medical is doing from the other direction: Reshaping the entire spectrum of lung cancer care by integrating more advanced + effective approaches to screening and diagnosis, treatment and therapeutics, and even palliative care…And putting it all to work through an innovative provider network. One notable investor exception is Y Combinator partner Surbhi Sarna who’s been backing great teams like Selera Medical (YC W24) doing foundational work on ambitious medical devices. Without more support from investors like her, we’re going to increasingly find ourselves stuck with the incremental portfolio improvements from the incumbents, and that’s just not nearly enough.

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Excited to announce Frist Cressey Ventures' investment in Qualified Health and privileged to partner w/ SignalFire, Healthier Capital, Town Hall Ventures and others!   Healthcare costs are increasing at a faster rate than ever before, with the US spending nearly twice as other wealthy countries and still ranking bottom in outcomes. It's a story you've all heard - - US healthcare is known for astronomical inefficiencies, waste, workforce supply constraints, fragmented access, appalling patient experiences, and driving patients and businesses into debt.   Yes these problems present opportunities. But opportunities are limited to the system's appetite for change, desire and incentive to try something new and the innovation available. At FCV we believe we've hit the trifecta with Generative AI. Generative AI has given us truly transformational tools in the toolkit and the healthcare ecosystem is demanding to absorb its benefits. This perfect collision of supply and demand means healthcare is poised for big change.   Generative AI is everywhere, it's buzzy, it dangles hope and opportunity. But many things need to be true for the Gen AI transformation in healthcare to take hold, such as but not limited to:   💡 Patient lives and data need to remain safe: We believe in a highly regulated and human life-touching sector such as healthcare we must ensure Gen AI can drive to unrivalled savings and improvements in the quality of care WHILE not putting patient lives or data at risk.   💡 Systems need to own their utilization of Gen AI: We believe systems will use some hybrid of external partners and homegrown solutions but importantly will want full control of data provisioning and utilization as well as the ability to solve an unlimited number of nuanced issues and not cookie cutter algorithms.   💡 Costs need to be looked at on an enterprise level: We believe the speed of innovation in Gen AI means costs will continue decreasing dramatically but at an enterprise level this will still not be a small detail. Systems will want the ability to understand costs and delegate as needed for the outcomes desired at the organizational level.   Enter Qualified.   We knew when we met Justin Norden, MD, MBA, MPhil and team we were standing in front of changemakers. These individuals have lived and breathed the true application and implementation of Generative AI far before we were asking ChatGPT to write our emails. In fact, if you’ve ever driven in a Waymo you’ve benefited from past products this team has built.   Qualified Health is on a mission to enforce governance in Gen AI, allow systems to rapidly build for their needs, monitor and make decisions for all GenAI (homegrown and external) and accelerate the value the sector can glean from these new technologies.   Huge shout out to William T., Tommaso Auerbach and Jamie Kuntz for their hard work!

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Nymbl Science is ENTERING THE CHAT- or the podcast- on Digital Health Heavyweights Podcast. This story hits home for a lot of us. An elderly person who falls, and then is incapacitated. A grandmother, great-grandmother, grandfather, great uncle, or neighbor. They have a serious fall, and then they are never the same.💔 Nymbl is a great solution to help people stay active and independent in their own homes. To work on their sight, and balance, in order to give the elderly population a chance to avoid those 'inevitable' falls. CHECK IT ALL OUT ON EPISODE 46. Today I sit down with Edward Likovich, PhD, CEO and founder of Nymbl Science, and Robert Mirsky, Chief Medical Officer. Nymbl is a scientifically proven fall prevention program for Medicare Advantage members. We chat how Ed founded Nymbl in sad inspiration from his grandfather's fall-related death and the impact it had on his family. Dr. Mirsky explains how Nymbl helps elderly patients stay independent and active by retraining their balance reflex. Walking is not enough, balance is also about your REFLEXES. How does Nymbl work? Nymbl has a personalized program combining exercise, cognitive challenges, and medical education to engage older adults and reduce falls. They walk us through the member experience, and surprisingly enough, post COVID elderly people have been much more tech-adoptive than you would assume. We discuss their world's largest fall prevention study, Nymbl's incredible actuarial model, challenges, successes, Medicare advantage, emotional wellbeing of the elderly, the next 5 years and more!! Some key takeaways: 🏃‍♂️ Nymbl helps elderly patients stay independent and active by retraining their balance reflex. 🛡️ Addressing balance and other age-related issues early on is crucial to prevent falls and improve overall well-being. 💪 Nymbl's personalized program combines exercise, cognitive challenges, and medical education to engage older adults and reduce falls. 📉 The vendor space in digital health is shifting towards at-risk payment models based on real ROI. Nymbl has a high adoption rate among older adults and engages them effectively by meeting them where they are and providing valuable information. 🌍 They have conducted the world's largest fall prevention study and can prevent about 20% of injurious falls.

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I’m optimistic about the potential of generative AI to reduce provider burnout and improve provider-patient interactions. However, that optimism is tempered by the data that indicates the technology is not quite ready yet. Bright Ventures is interested in digital health founders who understand the realities of provider-patient interactions, and the role technology can play in strengthening clinical outcomes. Which founders and teams are getting this right? Tag them in the comments below.

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Stop scrolling and read.... this piece by Alan Cohen is the best summary of why physical and digital innovations like Proprio are this generations wave of impact... and the teams that come across disciplines and sectors to truly disrupt for good is the key factor !

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The healthcare landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by advancements in technology and a deeper understanding of patient care. I had the pleasure of speaking with Ambar Bhattacharyya, Co-Managing Partner at Maverick Ventures, on the latest episode of The Full Ratchet. Ambar has partnered with numerous billion-dollar companies like hims & hers, Cityblock Health, Devoted Health, and ConcertAI. His unique journey from rural America to becoming a prominent figure in venture capital offers invaluable insights into the future of healthcare and technology. We discuss his investment strategy at Maverick Ventures, the megatrends shaping healthcare, the impact of AI on the industry, and the importance of integrated care. Ambar also shares his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities in healthcare investment, offering a comprehensive view of what lies ahead. Check out TFR Episode 438 to catch our conversation. You'll be glad you listened. Link to the full episode is in the comment section below.

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If you're an emerging company looking for expansion or getting started out, make sure to register for this webinar next week. September 10, 2024 10am PT / 1pm ET From Funding to Footprint Finding the right lab space to grow your company https://lnkd.in/g5XiA-Ke In this webinar, learn the latest real estate trends and current market conditions while gaining insights from investors, promising start-ups and real estate professionals on the best approach to finding the right space for your company and considerations for planning for growth.

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I'm so excited to continue supporting Prolific Machines, Inc., and the incredible Deniz Kent, PhD ,Max Huisman, and Declan Jones. Today's cellular biology processes are incredibly expensive, inefficient, imprecise, and sometimes purely ineffective. These processes are used from everything from making antibodies to treat diseases, to fermentation used to make high-value nutritional proteins in baby formula, to whole cuts of cultured meat. Prolific has developed a biology platform that leverages light to guide cell behavior and optimize performance over time using AI. By combining light, bioengineering, hardware, and AI in fundamentally new ways, Prolific can help pharmaceutical, nutritional, and therapeutics companies get to market faster, less expensively, and more efficiently — ultimately in hopes of helping improve outcomes — a mission any of us can get behind. Mark Cuban Peter T. Frederick Blackford Cooper Rinzler David Adelman Darco Capital Breakthrough Energy Michael Schulson Kevin Love Tobias Harris Breyer Capital Charles Besser Brennan Besser Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants https://lnkd.in/ea2TqdQk

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Boston's vibrant health tech scene is fueled by world-class accelerators and incubators, empowering startups to drive digital health, biotech, and life sciences breakthroughs. Here’s a look at some key players: MassChallenge HealthTech—This accelerator helps startups transform health solutions across digital and biotech. It connects entrepreneurs with resources and mentors to drive meaningful change. LabCentral – A coworking lab space offering shared resources and lab facilities, LabCentral supports biotech and health tech startups by providing them with an innovative, collaborative environment. #Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab – Located at Harvard, this incubator offers lab and office space to promising biotech and life sciences startups, helping them scale groundbreaking health tech solutions. Richi Entrepreneurs – With a global outlook, Richi Entrepreneurs offers a unique two-week immersion for international health tech startups, connecting them with Boston’s local mentors, investors, and industry leaders. Xontogeny – Specializing in life sciences, Xontogeny partners with early-stage health tech companies, providing strategic guidance and operational support to accelerate their journey from concept to market. These incubators and accelerators are not just nurturing innovation—they’re powering the next generation of health solutions! 🌟 #BostonHealthTech #InnovationEcosystem #Biotech #HealthTech #StartupAccelerators

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Not embarrassed to share Auxilius had a bit of cosmetic work done over the holidays. 💅 As of today, you’ll notice that the Auxilius website has a very different look and feel heading into 2025. While this is part of our effort to make clinical finance sexy (again?), we believe this more clearly reflects and articulates the way Auxilius supports the most innovative Biopharma finance and accounting teams in our industry. 🦾 The things we have in store for 2025 are anything but cosmetic. Auxilius customers will see a similar degree of change in our product this year. As our product becomes more robust (i.e., powerful, but big), we are making bold enhancements to our core workflows We are publicly launching three new offerings in 2025 — each designed to help our customers better plan and manage the most complex and variable components of R&D spend. Each has been designed and built collaboratively with early adopters among our 60+ customers, and we’re excited to make these available to the market broadly this year. 🔥 So yeah, I’ll say it. I’m fired up for 2025... https://www.auxilius.co/

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