Category: Health tech
-
STAT+: Anne Wojcicki wins back 23andMe, this time as a nonprofit
STAT+: Anne Wojcicki wins back 23andMe, this time as a nonprofit A nonprofit led by Anne Wojcicki, the co-founder and long-time CEO of genetic data firm 23andMe, won a last-minute bidding war to buy most of the company’s assets for a price of $305 million, the company said in a press release. The news, reported…
-
STAT+: Coalition for Health AI is building the plane as it’s flying it
STAT+: Coalition for Health AI is building the plane as it’s flying it You’re reading the web edition of STAT’s AI Prognosis newsletter, our subscriber-exclusive guide to artificial intelligence in health care and medicine. Sign up to get it delivered in your inbox every Wednesday. I recently saw an inspirational Instagram post that said, “Been so worried…
-
STAT+: 23andMe leaders grilled on genetic data risks by federal lawmakers
STAT+: 23andMe leaders grilled on genetic data risks by federal lawmakers Since 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March, 1.9 million of its 15 million DNA testing customers have asked the company to delete their data, interim CEO Joe Selsavage told federal lawmakers on Tuesday. The future of the company’s genetic hoard is uncertain as 23andMe…
-
STAT+: As Omada goes public, executives reflect on why profits are elusive in digital health
STAT+: As Omada goes public, executives reflect on why profits are elusive in digital health Fourteen years after launching to help make a dent in the United States’ swelling chronic disease problem, Omada Health went public on Friday, raising $150 million at just over a $1 billion valuation. Before going public, Omada raised $450 million…
-
STAT+: PillPack founders’ new health care marketplace has deep roots with Amazon
STAT+: PillPack founders’ new health care marketplace has deep roots with Amazon A new digital health care marketplace, launched last week, has a good amount of Amazon in its DNA. General Medicine, with $32 million in funding, came out of stealth with three former Amazon employees as co-founders and investors, a business model that could…
-
STAT+: ASCO and Google create ‘walled garden’ AI tool for doctors to query group’s guidelines
STAT+: ASCO and Google create ‘walled garden’ AI tool for doctors to query group’s guidelines The American Society of Clinical Oncology, the largest professional organization in cancer care, announced Wednesday that it had partnered with Google Cloud to develop an AI-based tool to help physicians rapidly question the organization’s guidelines on best practices in diagnosing…
-
STAT+: RFK Jr. meets with health tech startups, most backed by Andreessen Horowitz
STAT+: RFK Jr. meets with health tech startups, most backed by Andreessen Horowitz Of the seven health tech companies that met with the government’s most powerful health official on Monday, all but one had something in common: Financial backing from one of Silicon Valley’s top venture capital firms. In a post on the social media…
-
STAT+: UnitedHealth’s Optum working on Medicare risk scoring system that would use AI
STAT+: UnitedHealth’s Optum working on Medicare risk scoring system that would use AI SAN DIEGO — Optum, the health data and care provider division of UnitedHealth Group, is developing a way to calculate how sick Medicare patients are through artificial intelligence, instead of relying solely on diagnosis codes submitted by physicians. Ken Cohen, a physician…
-
STAT+: State AI laws would be banned under clause buried in House budget bill
STAT+: State AI laws would be banned under clause buried in House budget bill A small but powerful nugget is buried in the text of the House budget reconciliation bill released this week: a clause that would ban state and local governments from enforcing any laws on AI, even ones that have already been put…
-
STAT+: OpenAI leaps into health care with AI benchmark to evaluate models
STAT+: OpenAI leaps into health care with AI benchmark to evaluate models OpenAI on Monday released a large dataset for evaluating how well large language models answer questions related to health care. Experts lauded the open-source data and detailed evaluation rubrics, calling them “unprecedented” in scale and breadth. The project, HealthBench, marks OpenAI’s first foray…
-
Elizabeth Holmes rises again — or at least her partner does
Elizabeth Holmes rises again — or at least her partner does She is serving an 11-year prison sentence for misleading investors and is barred from participating in federal health programs for 90 years. But Elizabeth Holmes’ dream of a diagnostic testing revolution is once again the talk of health care. The emergence of Haemanthus, a…
-
STAT+: Insitro, an AI biotech founded by Daphne Koller, lays off staff
STAT+: Insitro, an AI biotech founded by Daphne Koller, lays off staff Insitro, the closely watched AI biotech founded by the Stanford professor and entrepreneur Daphne Koller, said Thursday it was laying off 22% of its staff, or around 60 people. It’s part of a series of cuts that have hit well-backed startups over the…
-
STAT+: 5 burning questions about FDA’s ‘aggressive’ deployment of AI for scientific review
STAT+: 5 burning questions about FDA’s ‘aggressive’ deployment of AI for scientific review The Food and Drug Administration said it will rapidly roll out a generative artificial intelligence model to assist scientific reviews across the agency, setting up a high-stakes test of the technology’s use in vetting products used in the care of millions of…
-
STAT+: Vinay Prasad tapped to run FDA center that regulates vaccines, gene therapies
STAT+: Vinay Prasad tapped to run FDA center that regulates vaccines, gene therapies WASHINGTON — Vinay Prasad, an academic and fierce critic of the medical mainstream, will be the next director of the Food and Drug Administration center that oversees the regulation of vaccines, gene therapies, and the blood supply. Prasad, previously an epidemiology professor at…
-
STAT+: Doctors didn’t catch AI’s mistakes. What does that mean for human-in-the-loop?
STAT+: Doctors didn’t catch AI’s mistakes. What does that mean for human-in-the-loop? You’re reading the web edition of STAT’s AI Prognosis newsletter, our subscriber-exclusive guide to artificial intelligence in health care and medicine. Sign up to get it delivered in your inbox every Wednesday. The entire time I’ve covered AI in health care, companies developing and selling…
-
STAT+: What’s an AI scaling law? We’ve found biology’s, says Profluent
STAT+: What’s an AI scaling law? We’ve found biology’s, says Profluent You’re reading the web edition of STAT’s AI Prognosis newsletter, our subscriber-exclusive guide to artificial intelligence in health care and medicine. Sign up to get it delivered in your inbox every Wednesday. We’re going to dive into a wonky one today. As Ms. Frizzle would say,…
-
STAT+: What’s new in STAT’s Generative AI Tracker? (spoiler: AI agents)
STAT+: What’s new in STAT’s Generative AI Tracker? (spoiler: AI agents) You’re reading the web edition of STAT’s AI Prognosis newsletter, our subscriber-exclusive guide to artificial intelligence in health care and medicine. Sign up to get it delivered in your inbox every Wednesday. As a STAT+ subscriber, you have access to our STAT trackers — including our…
-
STAT+: As more patients get automated test results, researchers seek ways to calm their nerves
STAT+: As more patients get automated test results, researchers seek ways to calm their nerves Editor’s note: This story contains a description of self-harm. Oncologist Mark Lewis has never had much of a poker face. When he walked into his cancer patient’s visit in 2022, he was wearing a big smile: The nodules in his…
-
STAT+: Texas judge strikes down FDA’s plan to regulate lab-developed tests
STAT+: Texas judge strikes down FDA’s plan to regulate lab-developed tests WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Texas squashed the Food and Drug Administration’s plan to regulate lab-developed tests on Monday, ruling in favor of lab trade groups that said the agency was overstepping its bounds. “The Court VACATES and SETS ASIDE, in its entirety,…