What the end of Google Health says about the health tech industry (Morning Read)

Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about the healthcare industry.

What the end of Google Health says about the health tech industry. Google announced Friday it will discontinue Google Health, its digital health records service, in January 2012. Launched in 2008, the service didn’t catch on like the company had hoped. Although Google Health Founder Adam Bosworth said the service failed because “it’s not social,” Dave Chase, the founder of Microsoft Health, wrote an insightful blog post about why Google Health was ultimately doomed to fail, and what its failure means to the health tech industry.

It’s that time of year again. The 2011 BIO International Convention is now under way in Washington D.C. With more than 15,000 expected attendees from 65 countries, the convention will bring together some of the world’s most influential industry, academic and government leaders.

Diabetes — the next global health issue? The number of adults with diabetes worldwide jumped to a startling 347 million in 2010, compared to 153 million in 1980, according to a new study in the British journal Lancet. Public health officials have said the rise in diabetes is more worrisome than the rise in high blood pressure rates and high cholesterol levels because it’s harder to prevent and treat. The findings predict a significant increase in medical costs for diabetes over the next decade.

Genentech will put up a fight for breast cancer drug. In a hearing this week, Genentech will appeal to the FDA to keep the drug Avastin available for breast cancer treatment. In December, the FDA proposed to revoke approval of the drug because new research showed it didn’t help patients.

More news on Genentech. The San Francisco-based cancer treatment company has made a deal with Forma Therapeutics to support the finances of a new drug program that starves tumors by blocking molecules involved in cancer cell metabolism in exchange for exclusive rights to the program.