The Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed in 2010, has had a profound impact on the US healthcare industry; its provisions have been implemented gradually, and investors in the life science sector have been paying close attention to its impact in their search for new opportunities. The ACA has been particularly impactful in healthcare IT investment, and we have also seen some effects in medical technology. As LSN's research staff continue to converse with investors, several have spoken about this trend in depth. Here are a few effects of the ACA that our investor dialogues have brought to light.

The ACA provides financial incentives and penalties for care providers to meet certain care quality goals. Some investors are therefore seeking technologies that will help care providers achieve these ACA-defined goals, as these technologies have the potential to be rapidly adopted by care providers seeking to meet ACA targets and avoid penalties...

The orphan and rare disease space has gained significant traction among life science investors. Despite the smaller market populations and limited clinical trial participants in rare diseases, technology in this space has remained attractive to investors due to its expedited FDA process and its lack of current treatment options for such uncommon conditions. Overall, while there are many challenges, there remains a lot of hope to drastically impact patient populations, scientific advancement, and market potential.

As healthcare and the life science space continue to evolve, the term "diagnostic" is taking on more and more meanings-and branding yourself as simply a "diagnostics company" is becoming increasingly ambiguous. This growing intricacy lends itself to the difficulties inherent in the sector. Whether you are developing a molecular-based point-of-care (PoC) diagnostic, a new in vitro diagnostic (IVD) test used in a clinical laboratory, a companion diagnostic for an oncology therapeutic or a biomarker discovery platform, there are some distinct challenges standing in the way of your technology and a successful exit.

Taking a look at some of the happenings in the diagnostics sector, some data from the LSN Investor Platform, and some of the things we've heard from diagnostic investors helps paint a better picture of the market, elucidating some guidelines to follow and common pitfalls to avoid for entrepreneurs developing diagnostic products/services...