Welcome to BioMarketing Insight's monthly newsletter.  

We have seen a major shift in funding to healthcare IT, since the healthcare reform mandates electronic medical records and encourages e-healthcare management software for a global payment system in bringing down healthcare costs. I'll discuss trends in health monitoring devices that incorporate wireless technology and also wearable devices with mobile applications.

Read on to learn more about this topic and other current news. On the right are quick links to the topics covered in this month's newsletter. The next newsletter will be published on September 17th.                                                                                                     

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Please email me, Regina Au, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions.

Sincerely,

Regina Au

Principal, Strategic Marketing Consultant

BioMarketing Insight 

Health monitoring devices or telemedicine is not new, but advances in wireless technology (Wi-Fi infrastructure, voice-over Wi-Fi and real-time systems) and mobile applications (apps) have made health monitoring devices attractive options for user-friendly and efficient health care management.

For seniors living in either their own homes or care homes, home monitoring devices are important for their comfort, safety, and well-being. It is predicted that home monitoring devices will grow to more than 36 million units in 2017, an increase from fewer than 3 million units sold in 2011. This is a compound annual growth rate of 55.9%, according to ABI Research.

Health monitoring devices allow vital data to be downloaded and sent to the patient's healthcare provider, thus improving the management of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Hospitals of the future are predicted to be run by e-health as well.

I'll cover two areas of health monitoring devices: 1) wearable devices that use mobile apps and 2) e-hospital, the hospital of the future.

Wearable health monitoring devices are designed to be attached to the body and provide real time measurements of heart rate or blood glucose level. These wireless monitors can be inserted into clothing, bracelets, badges, or even tattoos, according to Jody Ranck, an analyst at GigaOM Pro, the research arm of online tech publisher GigaOM.   Smart-skin tattoos can monitor blood glucose, drug delivery therapy or serve as a nicotine patch. Monitoring chronic conditions will be a key use for the monitors said Ranck.

Wearable health and fitness monitors could reach 170 million devices by 2017, ABI Research reported. However, "Remote patient monitoring and on-site professional healthcare use will represent just over 20 % of the wearable wireless device market by 2017, up from less than half that in 2011," said Jonathan Collins, principal analyst, navigation, telematics & M2M.   These devices not only collect data on a regular basis but also upload collected data to the network automatically and be shared, analyzed and acted on more quickly and efficiently than traditional means, said Collins.

Companies that already have or are developing wearable health monitors:

2) MC10, a Cambridge, Mass.-based electronic company, plans to add WiFi capabilities to an epidermal monitor developed by John Rogers of UIUC and George Whiteside of Harvard.

3) Sano Intelligence, a tech startup, has developed a wearable patch that monitors kidney function, metabolism, and blood glucose levels.

4) The Gates Foundation funded a project at the University of California, San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering for research using a wireless "pregnancy tattoo." It transmits data on the uterus contractions and heart rate of the mother and fetus. The tattoo will transmit data to a mobile phone and then to the cloud, according to Todd Coleman, a bioengineering professor at UCSD. 

4) Researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a remote monitoring system dubbed the "e-bra" that "enables continuous, real-time monitoring to identify any pathophysiological changes," said  Vijay Varadan, Distinguished Professor of electrical engineering.  The system consists of a "series of nanostructured, textile sensors" integrated into the garments via a lightweight, wireless module that snaps onto the clothing.

The device communicates to a nearby smartphone via short range wireless, which can then relay the data to care providers. The cuff-less sensors can monitor blood pressure, body temperature, respiratory rate, oxygen consumption, neural activity, ECG, and more, according to the research team.

Software giants such as Apple, Google and Microsoft are also developing wearable health technology:

1) Microsoft is working with the University of Washington on a contact lens for the sight impaired by monitoring blood glucose levels, said Ranck. 

Monitoring Chronic Disease

Diabetes is the most difficult disease to conquer in the wearable device market. Medical device giants such as Medtronic have developed continuous glucose monitoring systems such as MiniMed device, DexCom, and the Navigator. But the continuous glucose monitor is not intended for day-to-day monitoring, long-term self-care, or replacement for standard blood sugar monitoring. It is intended to identify fluctuations and trends that would otherwise be missed with standard HbA1c tests and intermittent finger stick measurements. This information helps healthcare providers make the most appropriate decisions regarding the patient's treatment plan.

Companies are currently developing a closed loop system that monitors and delivers insulin continuously. There are a number of issues that the closed loop system faces that are too lengthy for this newsletter and I'll cover the latest research on this topic in my next newsletter.

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With electronic medical records soon to be available, remote capabilities, the rising cost of healthcare and the need for quality care and management, e-health is being accepted as a new way to practice medicine.

Video consultation is an example of "real time" e-health where the interaction between the participants is "live" and is being rapidly adapted. The advantage of this approach is that it enables optimum exchange of information between participants. The disadvantages are that it is logistically difficult for the consultant to manage large-scale services and they tend to be relatively expensive.

In the UK, some traditional hospital based outpatient clinics are being replaced with nurse-run clinics in GP practices.  The nurse talks to the patient, collects all the information and sends the patient's electronic record (via the computer) to a specialist located anywhere in the world. The specialist views the record (which could include photographs, X-rays, ECGs or other details as well as text) and sends (via the computer) a report back to the patient`s GP.

Using this model, minor injuries are now being linked to trauma centers. The nurse simply sends the X-rays to the radiologist for view and reports back. The nurse can also discuss the management of the injury with the consultant from the trauma center by video conference. It is believed that access to good quality health information over the Internet, digital TV and via multimedia kiosks will allow healthcare professionals to provide quality care at a lower cost to the healthcare system.  

Remote Call Button.

The Lovelace Hospital System, comprised of six hospitals in New Mexico, has rapidly adopted the e-health approach and use physician consultants remotely on a routine basis. Their ICU is dubbed "eICU" and is set up specifically for video consultations. A special remote call button is mounted on the wall to call for a specialist. See pictures.

Video Consultation with Specialist

eICU at Lovelace Hospital System.

Wearable Monitoring System.

This institution actively uses the home health monitoring systems to check on patients while they're in the hospital. This can be accomplished with a wearable device for the patient. An example of this would be the Philips IntelliVue MX40 that allows patients to walk around the hospital rather than being tied to a hospital bed. The wearable device has a touch screen display that lets clinicians see ECG, oxygen saturation (SpO2), and other vital signs in real time with just a push of a button. The device helps nurses save time by allowing them to check on patients' ECG rhythms without making a call to the nurses central station monitors.

The future of healthcare is telemedicine or telemetry in both the office and hospital settings. One would have to be very sick to be admitted to the hospital and if admitted, one will not be there long. The goal is to get the patient ambulatory and out of the hospital as soon as possible. These wearable devices in conjunction with home health monitoring systems allow healthcare professionals to accomplish this and still provide quality care.

We are in a new age of advanced wireless technology that allows patients to be monitored without leaving their home. This technology will allow patients to save time and healthcare professionals to save time and be more efficient in providing better healthcare with these electronic resources.

However, there are three things that concern me as we enter this new age of technology: 1) security and privacy 2) data overload and 3) the human factor. What do I mean by this?

1) Security and privacy - Electronic records are great in being able to send vital data to multiple people at multiple locations and store it in the "cloud." However, I've learned that the cloud is not secure and many devices can be potentially "hacked" if security measures are not taken.

2) Data overload - These new wearable devices will generate an enormous amount of data that will still need to be analyzed and interpreted. Depending on how the data is organized by the person sending it, it may still be cumbersome and confusing to interpret all the data.

3) Human factor - While video consultation can be an efficient way of doing things, some diagnoses still need the human touch. As good as HD technology can be, sometimes seeing the person in front of you does more than seeing them on video. Telemedicine should not completely replace face to face interaction.

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In a busy hospital or office setting where there are numerous patients being monitored or tested everyday, one would have to have an accurate and efficient system in keeping all the patients' identity straight.

What if you had a device that could measure someone's unique response to a weak electric signal built in to a blood-pressure cuffs that could automatically identify the wearer and send measurements straight to his or her electronic medical record?

Computer scientist Cory Cornelius at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, has developed a wristwatch-like device that measures a person's "bioimpedance" to identify him or her to a medical monitoring device. Individual bioimpedance such as a person's wrist is unique in terms of bone, flesh, and blood vessels much like a person's fingerprint.

Authenticating the user of a medical device can have many benefits such as identifying multiple users of a blood pressure monitor or exercise monitor in one household. However, not everyone will agree that this is an accurate method for authenticating a user.

Ari Juels, chief scientist at RSA Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is skeptical that bioimpedance can serve as a practical biometric. "The false acceptance and false rejection rates are considerably weaker than required for any likely security scenario," he says.

To read the full story, click on Technology Review by MIT  

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Seventeen Medical Device and Ten Pharma/Biotech Funding Deals

To determine whether funding is picking up, I will be focusing on all types of funding that are $1 million or greater in seed investments and series A or B (or the valley of death) that are pre-IPO. Even though VCs are investing, they continue to invest in their existing portfolio companies and less in start-ups. Incubators, state funding, and business competitions are great for initial seed money but not enough to keep the company going long-term.  These are worldwide funding deals. 

Partnerships and licensing deals with upfront payments and milestones will not be included.

Funding deals are in chronological order by date.

$0 = No financial terms disclosed. For more information, read  more ....

Funding deals are in chronological order by date.

$0 = No financial terms disclosed. For more information, read  more...     

Acquisitions continue to be made for both medical device (18) and pharma/biotech (5).  

This month Life Technologies made two acquisitions: Navigenics and Pinpoint Genomics.  This month Thermo Fisher Scientific made it's seventh acquisition since May of 2011.  Private Equity Firms Audax Group and TPG bought Laborie Medical Technologies Inc and Par Pharmaceuticals respectively.  

Intel, trying to enter the healthcare space bought IDesia Biometrics, an Israel-based maker of a biometric device that can identify individuals based on their heartbeats.  

Acquisitions are in chronological order by date with Medical Device/Diagnostics followed by Pharma/Biotech.

$0 = No financial terms disclosed. For information on specific companies, read  more ....

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We help companies de-risk their product development process by conducting the business due diligence to ensure that it is the right product for the right market and the market potential for the product meets the business goals of the company. We can then develop marketing strategies to drive adoption for the product.

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