More convergence: VCs say drugs + #meddevice and device + app is already happening #mhvf #digitalhealth
— Veronica M. Combs (@vmcombs) April 22, 2014
The medical device crowd is often a gloom and doom group but I think things are actually looking up for this part of the healthcare industry. In April at our MidAmerica Healthcare Venture Summit, Jim Rogers, head of Mayo Clinic Ventures, said that his investment team is doubling down on devices. Also in this month’s Startup Index, we have articles about 20 device companies, which is up from most months and significantly higher than bio tech (13) and catching up with the number of digital health startups (29). Download the entire report here to read about every company we wrote about in April.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Several of the companies are a combination of a device and a digital service, like the WellaPets virtual pet app that goes with an inhaler or Paofit’s virutal reality experience for a treadmill or Biomeme’s Smartphone-enabled lab.
What better way to refresh an “old” device – like the treadmill and the inhaler – with something new like an app or a tracker?
This convergence will save the medical device industry. It will force leaders and engineers to think differently about their products – maybe even from the end user’s (aka patient’s) point of view. Many digital health entrepreneurs don’t know much about healthcare, so med tech experts will be invaluable partners in any project that combines a physical device and a digital service.
Investors see this as a good thing, too. An investor panel at our April event mentioned convergence also and agreed that it is already happening.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Daphne Zohar, the founder of PureTech Ventures, said that she is most excited about the convergence as well: “not necessarily digital health or one specific segment, but the concept that as different disciplines converge onto healthcare you can really do novel things.”
That thinking from outside the medical device box will drag the industry into the 21st century and give executives new offerings and a closer connection to patients.
