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… 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… 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… Continue Reading

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… 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… 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… 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… 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)… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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 —… 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… 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… 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… 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… Continue Reading