Six Health 2.0 firms reinvent doctor-patient ties

Six Health 2.0 firms reinvent doctor-patient ties

(UPDATED: Added screenshots and a link to video of the Myca patient-record interface.)

The just-concluded Health 2.0 Conference in San Diego showcased some 30-odd startups and Web sites — with dozens more in the audience — all intent on using the Internet to improve patient care, streamline healthcare practices and bolster the ability of individuals to take charge of their own medical treatment. There’s lots more to say, and I hope to do so over the next… Continue Reading

Life-science briefing: Thursday, March 6, 2008

Life-science briefing: Thursday, March 6, 2008

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

France’s TxCell raises €11M for cell therapy (release)
Healthcare IT firm TriHealix takes in $7M (release)
Healthcare-software provider Anodyne Health acquires Piedmont Healthcare (release)
CEO, CFO resign at inhaled-drug biotech Topigen (release)

France’s TxCell raises €11M for cell therapy – TxCell, a French cell-therapy biotech, raised €10.5 million ($16 million) in a second funding round. Investors included Auriga Partners, AXA Private Equity, Bioam Gestion, CDC Innovation and Seventure.

The biotech is developing a patient-specific cell therapy for the gastrointestinal autoimmune… Continue Reading

change:healthcare wants to empower “medical consumers” — but has more work to do

change:healthcare wants to empower “medical consumers” — but has more work to do

For empowered “medical consumers” to really transform the healthcare system, as Health 2.0 proponents would have, clear pricing and quality data for medical care is essential. Unfortunately, such information is currently in short supply.

The startup change:healthcare aims to fill that void with a revamped Web site, just launched this afternoon. And it’s a nifty idea, if unfortunately still flawed in execution. See our review at VentureBeat Life Sciences.

change:healthcare aims to make medical costs transparent — but falls short in execution

change:healthcare aims to make medical costs transparent — but falls short in execution

Can social networking help restrain, or even lower, healthcare costs? The Nashville, Tenn., startup change:healthcare is primed to find out.

Healthcare plans are inexorably forcing more cost-sharing on patients — a strategy some call YOYO, for “you’re on your own” — which means that the actual cost of medical care is looming larger for many Americans. Healthcare free-marketers think that’s a good thing, arguing that cost-consciousness will make people better medical consumers and cut down on… Continue Reading

The Health 2.0 glut, and how one startup adapts

The Health 2.0 glut, and how one startup adapts

The Health 2.0 movement, as I’ve noted before, makes some big claims about the Internet’s power to transform the relationships between patients and doctors, hospitals, insurers and each other. Some of that is undoubtedly true, and there’s a fascinating amount of innovation going on in this area– helped along by a recent torrent of venture capital.

There’s a downside to the movement, though, and that’s a bizarre oversupply of sites that are all doing slight variations… Continue Reading

Google Health is here — or is it?

Google Health is here — or is it?

(UPDATED: See below.)

Well, the WSJ says so in this somewhat breathless report that states Google will announce its long-awaited personal health-record service today.

My first thought was that the announcement was timed to get Google on the record in advance of the Health2.0 “Spring Fling” conference in San Diego next week, which will feature lots of talk about the role of the Internet in improving healthcare. Another possibility is that Google is pulling a bait-and-switch similar… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Feb. 25, 2008

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Feb. 25, 2008

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

Microsoft launches $3M fund to support online health-improvement tools (release)
Clarus Ventures raises $660M life-sciences fund (release)
Iverson Genetics raises $1.1M for blood-clotting tests, seeks $9.3M more (VentureWire)
Upstart Ventures aims for $30M fund to seed Utah life-science ventures (release)
CalHealth takes in $750K for blood-pressure monitoring (VW)
Regenerative medicine co. Organogenesis acquires NanoMatrix (release)
Electronic health-record firm MediNotes acquires Bond Technologies (release)
Eclipsys acquires Enterprise Performance for healthcare financial-management (release)
Healthcare analytics firm Urix acquires Predicted Solutions (release)

Microsoft launches $3M fund… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Feb. 4, 2008

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Feb. 4, 2008

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

PEAK Surgical takes in $21M for electrosurgical tools (release)
CellGate acquired by Australian cancer biotech ProGen for $2.5M (release)
Traversa raises $2M for RNAi-delivery technologies (release)
RemitDATA, Web-based healthcare-service co., takes in $5.5M (bizjournals.com)
Spinal-implant maker Archus Orthopedics gets $10M venture loan (release)
Promedior pulls down another $5.5M for fibrotic disease (release)
Acrongenomics takes 11 percent stake in Molecular Vision (release)
Hepatitis drug-developer Biolex withdraws IPO (IPO Home)
Employee drug screener eScreen gets Carlyle investment (release)
NovaMin raises $2.5M for dental-care products (VentureWire)
Cardious… Continue Reading

Health-info site HealthCentral Network pulls in $50M

Health-info site HealthCentral Network pulls in $50M

(UPDATED: IAC put out a release this morning — see below.)

The HealthCentral Network, an Arlington, Va., collection of health-information sites, raised roughly $50 million, paidContent reports. Investors included some big names, include Barry Diller’s online media and commerce conglomerate IAC, Sequoia Capital, Carlyle Group and Polaris Venture Partners.

HealthCentral runs about 30 health-related Web sites, ranging from general-info offerings like HealthCentral.com to disease-specific sites such as OurAlzheimers.com and MultipleSclerosisCentral.com. (The company also owns the DrKoop.com name, although… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2007

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

Teva acquires protein-therapeutic maker CoGenesys for $400M (release)
ViewRay takes in $25M for MRI radiation-therapy guidance (release)
NovaMed, Chinese clinical-research outfit, receives $14M (release)
Progentix Ortho raises first funding round (release)
Medical imaging co. Point Biomedical recaps with $25M (VentureWire)
Lumidigm takes in $7M for optical-fingerprint ID systems (VW)
Medical-software co. Compressus aims to close $14M round (VW)
Channel Medical Partners aims for $150M med-tech fund (VW)
Spinal-implant maker Scient’x names Michael Huggins as CEO (release)
Specialty pharma Cardiokine names Manuel Worcel as… Continue Reading

iMedix combines health search and community — but does neither well

iMedix combines health search and community — but does neither well

(UPDATED: See below.)

For all the fuss over “Health 2.0″ companies that hope to revolutionize the U.S. medical system by tapping the bottom-up information-sharing capabilities of the Web, the unfortunate fact is that many of them are busily piling into business areas that are already seriously overcrowded. Worse, many seem to have no business model at all. iMedix, a new site hoping to draw users into a community where they can share information about their medical conditions,… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Jan. 17, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Thursday, Jan. 17, 2007

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

TransEnterix gets $21M for minimally invasive GI surgery (release)
Stem-cell developer Bioheart’s IPO postponed (Forbes.com)
Medical-practice software provider AdvancedMD acquired by Francisco Partners (release)
Peptimmune draws $8.2M for MS drug trials (release)
Drug-delivery co. Talima Thera names Martin Babler CEO (release)
Alimera Sciences aims for autumn IPO to fund diabetic eye-disease drug (VentureWire, sub req’d)

TransEnterix gets $21M for minimally invasive GI surgery — TransEnterix (no Web site), a Research Triangle Park, N.C., device maker developing tools for “natural orifice”… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Jan. 14, 2008

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Jan. 14, 2008

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

Autonomic Technologies raises $3M for neurostimulators (PE Hub)
Canopy Financial raises $15M for outsourced healthcare management (release)
Cancer-drug developer AmpliMed draws $5M (PE Hub)
Caprotec Bioanalytics receives €6M for protein-analysis tech (release)
ProtAffin draws additional €1.4M for anti-inflammatory drugs (release)
Toxicology-services firm Bridge Labs takes in $18M (release)
Dental-compound maker NovaMin takes in $2.2M (TechJournal South)
Aushon Bio takes in $4M for microarrays (PE Hub)
Treatment Online receives $750K for Web behavioral healthcare (PDF release)
IPO the Hospitalist aims to raise $60M with… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Dec. 31, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Dec. 31, 2007

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

PowerVision pulls in $20M for intraocular lenses (VentureWire)
Heart device maker Mitralign raises $24M (release)
LifeOnKey, electronic medical-record IT firm, draws $5M of $10M round (Globes)
Merrion Pharma withdraws IPO filing (Edgar)
Hi-Tech Pharmacal acquires Midlothian Labs for $5M (release)
Anti-infective developer Calixa receives $15M (VW)

PowerVision pulls in $20M for intraocular lenses — Belmont, Calif.-based PowerVision, a device company developing implantable intraocular lenses, raised $20 million in a second funding round, VentureWire reports. Investors included Advanced Technology Ventures, Frazier… Continue Reading

Healthcare IT co. MedAssets sets IPO range, aims for $221M

Healthcare IT co. MedAssets sets IPO range, aims for $221M

MedAssets, an Alpharetta, Ga., provider of IT and services designed to maximize hospital revenue, said it plans to sell as many as 13.8 million shares at a price of $14 to $16 apiece, for a maximum IPO take of $221 million. The company’s latest SEC filing is here.

The offering would value MedAssets at as much as $685.8 million. In overall size, the amount MedAssets hopes to raise in the offering is slightly less than… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007

Featured companies: American TeleCare, Gliknik, Juvaris BioTherapeutics, Medsphere Systems, Primera Biosystems

UPDATED: Expanded items on Juvaris, Medsphere, Primera, American TeleCare and Gliknik. Moved Broncus Tech and Aegerion Pharma items to an IPO roundup here.

Vaccine maker Juvaris Bio raises $12M, aims for $30M more — According to VentureWire (subscription required), this Pleasanton, Calif., vaccine maker raised $12 million in its first funding round. That appears to contradict an earlier item from PE Hub that said Juvaris BioTherapeutics had raised… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007

Featured companies: AerovectRx, Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Harmony Information Systems, Intelligent Hospital Systems, Merrion Pharmaceuticals, Syntaxin, SymBio Pharmaceuticals

UPDATED: Expanded items on Harmony Info, SymBio Pharma and Merrion Pharma, added Dicerna item.
UPDATE REDUX: Added Syntaxin item.

U.K. biotech Syntaxin raises £16M for pain and nervous-system drugs — Syntaxin, a U.K. biotech focused on drugs that affect cell secretion, raised £16 million ($33.2 million) in a second funding round. The company’s release is here.

Investors in the round included SR One, the venture capital… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Oct. 29, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Monday, Oct. 29, 2007

Featured companies: Azaya Therapeutics, Global Care Solutions, Oxford Immunotec, RealSelf.com, Sequoia Pharmaceuticals, Tactile Systems Technology, WellGen, Zeltiq Aesthetics

UPDATED: Expanded items on Oxford Immunotec, Zeltiq, Tactile Systems, RealSelf.com and Global Care.

Oxford Immunotec pulls in $40M for TB tests — Oxford Immunotec, a U.K. biotech focused on new diagnostic tests for infectious disease, raised $40 million in a third financing round. The company’s release is here (PDF). Investors included Clarus Ventures, Wellington Partners, Kuwait-based National Technology Enterprises Company, the… Continue Reading

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Oct. 19, 2007

Life sciences briefing: Friday, Oct. 19, 2007

Featured companies: DirectFlow, Direvo, Indigo Biosystems, MacroGenics

Direct Flow raises $27M for heart-valve implants — Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Direct Flow Medical, a startup developing heart implants, raised $27 million in a second funding round. Investors included Johnson & Johnson Development, Foundation Medical Partners, VantagePoint Venture Partners, ePlanet, EDF Ventures, New Leaf Venture Partners and Spray Venture Partners.

Direct Flow makes minimally invasive aortic-valve replacements for the heart. This particular field happens to be booming — we’ve previously covered… Continue Reading

Medsphere hires new CEO, a “reinvention” that could boost electronic medical records

Medsphere hires new CEO, a “reinvention” that could boost electronic medical records

Medsphere Systems, a controversial Aliso Viejo, Calif., healthcare-software firm notorious for suing its co-founders last year when they released an open-source version of the company’s code, named a new CEO, a sign that it may be moving to heal old wounds.

Warning: Some of what follows is a bit convoluted — business disputes are rarely cut-and-dried, particularly once lawyers get involved. But it’s an interesting and important story, not least because the electronic medical-records system at… Continue Reading