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The 13th Annual Forbes Healthcare Summit takes place on December 4 in New York City. Known for its unparalleled networking opportunities and breaking news on stage, this summit surrounds you with top healthcare professionals, health technology innovators and business leaders from leading healthcare, pharmaceutical, insurance and wellness companies.
Here are just some of the speakers who will share their insights at the event:
- Judy FaulknerFounder and CEO of Epic
- Stéphane BancelCEO of Moderna
- Erik LefkofskyFounder and CEO of Tempus
- Kate RyderFounder and CEO of Maven Clinic
- And much more!
You can register to participate via this link. We hope to see you there.
With a less invasive knee procedure, Vericel CEO says the company is poised for more growth
Persistent knee pain is sometimes caused by damage to the cartilage that forms the ends of the bones that form the knee. That damage can be caused by injury or simply the result of wear and tear over time. A possible treatment for this is MACI, offered by Vericel.
With MACI, a surgeon takes a small piece of the patient’s own knee cartilage, which is then multiplied over time in a petri dish. The cartilage is then reinserted into the knee, along with a dissolvable ‘scaffolding’ that ensures it grows properly and helps the joint recover.
Approved by the FDA in 2016, MACI is already a major revenue generator for Vericel with sales of more than $84 million in the first half of 2024, representing approximately 20% year-over-year growth. In August the FDA approved arthroscopic administration of MACI, a much less invasive procedure that, according to CEO Nick Colangelo, prepares his company for even further growth.
“Less invasive surgery, less postoperative pain, faster postoperative recovery, better aesthetics – all these things are important to patients,” he said. Forbes.
As the company begins to plan for 2025, it is focused on expanding the number of surgeons using MACI to treat its patients. In addition, Colangelo said the company is working with the FDA on the potential for MACI to repair damaged cartilage in the ankle, with the hope of starting a clinical trial next year, he said.
Pipeline and deal updates
Biotechnology: March Biosciences, which is developing new CAR-T therapies against certain cancers, announced it has increased a $28.4 million Series A round.
Digital Health: HealthEx, which is building an AI platform to track patient consent and preferences, launched from stealth and announced seed and series A funding from $14 million.
Parkinson’s disease: The FDA approved foscarbidopa and foslevodopa, marketed by Abbvie as Vyalev, as a treatment for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease.
AI for drug discovery: Terray Therapeutics, which uses an AI platform to discover new small molecule drugs, announced it has launched a $120 million Series B round.
Radiotherapy: Sanofi has entered into a research partnership with Orano Med to develop new radiation treatments for certain types of cancer. As part of the agreement, Sanofi will make a $323 investment in Orano Med.
Gait analysis: OneStep, which has developed a smartphone-based system to analyze a patient’s gait and mobility, has raised $36 million in new investment aid.
Cell therapy: AvenCell, which is developing new CAR T-cell therapies, has increased its profits a $112 million Series B round.
The billionaire behind Groupon is making a fortune in an industry he swore he would never enter
Walking through the office of health technology company Tempus AI in midtown Manhattan, Eric Lefkofsky walks past straight leaves of snake plants in neatly arranged planters as employees chat over lunch in the open space that, unlike the company’s headquarters in Chicago, no There is no real laboratory. Wearing his trademark oval glasses and a navy blue button-down, the billionaire walks into a nearby conference room, doesn’t bother to close the door and skips the small talk.
“I tend to be very problem-oriented,” says the founder and CEO of Tempus, spinning around in his chair. “I get completely absorbed by it and don’t spend time on anything else.”
Lefkofsky never thought he would end up here after nine years leading a health technology company he founded. Even after building companies across apparel, printing, logistics, media and especially e-commerce with Groupon, he had insisted to himself that he would never start a healthcare company. The sector was too regulated, he reasoned.
Then in 2014, his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. He was surprised at how little data had penetrated her care. He spent a year talking to oncologists and then, despite having no healthcare background, founded Tempus in 2015. The company started as an oncology-focused data company that sequenced and analyzed cancer patients’ tumor samples with AI models to help determine more accurate diagnosis and personalized treatments. It is now expanding into a number of psychiatric disorders (depression, anxiety, ADHD) and cardiology with a broad goal of applying artificial intelligence to “all disease areas worldwide.” And it licenses parts of its dataset to pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca and researchers from the Mayo Clinic, among others.
Read more here.
Other healthcare news
Judy Faulkner made $7.7 billion from healthcare software. Here’s her unusual plan to give it away.
McDonald’s Quarter Pounder Linked to E. Coli Outbreak – CEO ‘Very Confident’ Food Is Safe: Here’s What You Need to Know
As Walgreens closes stores, a strategy is emerging to invest in the stores that remain
Don’t look for a major break in CVS’s health under the new CEO
Elevance Health newest insurer hit by higher medical costs
Amazon’s One Medical partners with Cleveland Clinic
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What else we read
What Drug Makers Didn’t Tell Volunteers in Alzheimer’s Trials (The New York Times)