Business

Venture capital investment in healthtech is showing signs of early recovery in the first half of 2024 after the long hangover of a downturn that followed booming investments during the pandemic years, according to a new report from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Despite ongoing challenges, healthtech is on a positive trajectory and hovers between $3.5bn and $4.5bn per quarter, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

Marabio Systems says the new funding will help accelerate efforts to bring a blood test to market in 2025 that will accurately determine if a mother is a carrier of antibodies that cause MARA, a subtype of autism that believe to cause more severe behavior.

This week, Establishment Labs Holdings announced the FDA gave it premarket approval for Motiva breast implant, Cologuard lands FDA approval for Cologuard Plus and GE HealthCare gets FDA nod for a new imaging agent. The FDA announces another expansion for TAP into ophthalmology and radiology. The AAMI and CTA will join forces to develop standards for AI and ML-enabled health care products.  

An additional $50m brings the neurovascular intervention specialist’s total Series F funding to $82m. Route 92 says it will use the capital to build its sales and support teams and pursue regulatory authorizations around the globe for its FreeClimb portfolio while advancing its SUMMIT MAX clinical trial for the investigational Monopoint Reperfusion System.

This week, renal denervation systems from Medtronic and Recor won Medicare coverage; Boston Scientific bought cardiac-mapping firm Cortex; Veravas and Phanes Biotech teamed up on an Alzheimer’s diagnostic; and more.

Beta Bionics’ automated insulin delivery system is now pairable with Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus CGM.

Abbott’s Diabetes Care Division has recorded meteoric growth over recent years. Partnerships and a laser-focused strategy for driving patient access are at the core of its success, says Chris Scoggins, SVP of commercial operations and marketing.

This week, Hologic announced it would pay $350m for uterine fibroid treatment firm Gynesonics; the US FDA authorized a Novocure cancer treatment and a surgical robot from CMR Surgical; and the IMDRF announced 15 new members.

Octave Bioscience’s CEO Doug Biehn sat down with Medtech Insight at HTLH to talk about the company’s plans for expanding their multivariate biomarker blood test for MS analysis and development of a diagnostic for Parkinson’s disease.

The US FDA’s advisory panel on general and plastic surgery devices voted in favor of agency approval for a novel medical device for treating early stage, low-risk breast cancer as a potential alternative to lumpectomy. The agency is expected to make its decision on the device early next year.

In this week’s Digital Health Roundup, Medtech Insight’s Marion Webb talks about her interview with GE HealthCare’s chief AI officer Parminder Bhatia about his vision for AI in health care and other highlights from HLTH. Natasha Barrow discusses her interview with Owkin on the EU AI Act and highlights Click Therapeutics’ latest clinical results.

The company has taken the ambitious approach of establishing a manufacturing base capable of producing millions of devices before any attempt at a regulatory submission.

The company has taken the ambitious approach of establishing a manufacturing base capable of producing millions of devices before any attempt at a regulatory submission.

At HLTH 2024, GE HealthCare unveiled CareIntellect for Oncology, a generative AI-driven platform to help oncologists quickly assess patient data across multiple sources to save time and improve treatment planning. The platform, currently in evaluation at two US hospitals, is set for launch in the second half of 2025.

Despite questions surrounding the SEC rule, including disputes being litigated in the US Eighth Circuit, companies must prepare to meet the new climate disclosure requirements in addition to related mandates in California and abroad. Experts emphasize opportunities beyond compliance.

Craig Eagle, chief medical officer of Guardant Health, provides his view on an increasingly competitive liquid biopsy market in this interview with Medtech Insight.

IMU Biosciences joins a UK consortium of 27 academic and industry partners to undertake “immunoprofiling” of 6,000 cancer patients to assess their response to treatment.

University of Cambridge's soon-to-be spun-out Nimble Genomics is among grant-winning projects in Capital Enterprise's Cancer Tech Accelerator. Medtech Insight spoke to clinical oncologist and Nimble founder Henno Martin and co-founder Radek Lach to learn more what about the brain cancer blood test’s prospects in an increasingly competitive liquid biopsy space.

Medtech Insight was on the ground at HLTH looking for innovative companies. Learn about seven start-ups using AI to help physicians detect conditions including prostate and breast cancers, seizures and heart failure; assess patients for cognitive decline validate and deploy algorithms, and monitor patients in and out of the hospital.

Start-ups pitched a diverse deck of innovative technologies to three judges and an audience of potential investors, strategics and physicians at the Octane Medical Innovation Forum in Irvine, CA. Highlights include neuromodulation company Sinaptica Therapeutics, which won the competition for both “People’s Choice” and “Judge’s Choice.”

Sofinnova Partners has played an important role in defining the medtech investment space for the past 50 years, helping bring to market a plethora of life-saving technologies, even when they appear, initially, to be risky.

Each year, Medtech Innovator whittles down a vast number of applicants to a relatively succinct shortlist of companies. Paul Grand, Medtech Innovator’s CEO, spoke to Medtech Insight about this process, as well as some of the broader trends impacting investment in medtech.

When a large medtech company sets up a venture fund, it typically invests in technologies that are adjacent to its pre-existing portfolio. Intuitive Surgical’s approach is different.

Keeping a firm grip on one’s IP is a cornerstone of most innovative businesses. However, Robert Cote, CEO of Cote Capital, believes that if the idea is good enough to keep close, it’s good enough to license out.