Dive into the top tech stories of the past few months as GOLD explores the funding landscape and the latest innovations in the health tech market
Words by Isabel O’Brien
Brighter outlook for digital health funding
While the digital health sector has seen a significant decline in funding and deal volume since a peak in 2021, quarterly trends are stabilising within a new investment cycle. In Q3 2023, investors opted to back startups tackling new treatment pathways and non-clinical workflow solutions, according to a report from Rock Health. While deal volume continued to decline in Q3, an emerging investment pattern is a positive signal for digital health innovators. The clinical indication that received the most funding in 2023 was mental health.
Better Therapeutics launches diabetes DTx
In a win for digital therapeutics, a new treatment option for type 2 diabetes has hit the app store. Better Therapeutics has received FDA approval for AspyreRx™: a prescription-only CBT app that helps patients see how diet and behaviour changes can lower their blood glucose levels. Studies have shown that the app provides a range of benefits to users, including lowered weight and blood pressure, fewer medication increases and adverse events and improved mood and quality of life.
US citizens want AI-enabled healthcare
According to Deloitte’s 2023 Health Care Consumer Survey, the US public would like to see greater use of generative AI in healthcare. More than half of respondents thought generative AI could improve access to health services, and just under half said it had the potential to make healthcare more affordable. Unsurprisingly, those with experience of generative AI were the most positive. Potential use cases include AI providing out-of-hours medical advice, diagnosing symptoms, summarising complex health information and recommending clinicians to patients.
A data win for women’s health
In a bid to level the playing field in women’s health, new AI company Cercle has launched a platform that can collect billions of de-identified biomedical and genomic data points and turn them into structured insights. These can then be used by healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical research teams to make better prescribing decisions and develop better treatments. The initial focus will be on fertility, with a view to expanding this later. Currently, up to 80% of medical data is unstructured, demonstrating the need for technologies like this in healthcare.
