Zipnosis Raises $3 Million in Funding for Telemedicine Tools

Zipnosis specializes in offering telemedicine tools to providers in order to launch their own telemedicine services, whereas other telemedicine companies offer services either directly or via health insurers.

Last week, Zipnosis raised $3 million through funding, which led to a total of up to $23 million due to existing investors like Safeguard Scientifics and Ascension Ventures among others.

Jon Pearce, the CEO of Zipnosis said, “As an organization focused on sustainable, organic growth, we were very intentional about the size of our Series B. In this industry, you hear about huge amounts of cash being splashed around. Zipnosis didn’t require a massive infusion of investment to achieve our growth objectives. It was more important for us to take precisely what we needed to move to the next level – no more and no less.”

In January, Zipnosis teamed up with Methodist Family Health Centers, to unveil an online diagnosis and treatment service named Methodist NOW and in February they launched Patient Outreach, which aids hospitals in patient visits.

In April, Zipnosis teamed up with The American Academy of Family Physicians to provide an online diagnosis and treatment system followed by the addition of post-surgical care.

Lastly, in June, they announced the expanded Surescripts certification to add medication history into patients’ data available to telemedicine doctors. 

Jon Pearce further added, “We absolutely believe that healthcare is still local and we believe that it’s the long-term and the right solution not only for the best quality care but also for the most affordable care for patients. The healthcare providers haven’t moved quick enough. The incentives haven’t been there and change is hard in healthcare.”

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Five Top Medical Device Start-Ups

The demand for novel medical technologies seems to grow continuously. Hence there has been an increasing number of start-ups in order to fill the gaps by providing innovative solutions to persisting health issues. In this article, we will have a brief look at five of the world’s most promising medical device start-ups.

Rubi Life

This US-based medical device start-up is one of the joint winners of the Digital Health Technology Show’s Start-Up of the Year Award 2018. Rubi Life has earned a good name in the pregnancy device market since it has created the world’s first sensor containing a passive fetal wearable monitor named Rubi that can track fetal movement in the third trimester.

Livongo Health

This California-based start-up enables diabetic patients to connect to a virtual care team. This company completed a $105m round of funding, which would be further used to support market growth by developing the consumer platform.

Day Zero Diagnostics

This medical device start-up combines machine learning and genome sequencing to diagnose and treat infectious diseases within five hours rather than spending days using current methods. Their Day Zero device can analyze entire genomic sequences using the microbial resistance database named MicrohmD.

Prellis Biologics

The mission of this company is to address the unmet need for transplant-ready organs. Hence, it is currently developing a laser-based 3D printing technology to create functional human organs.

Clinical Science Systems

This Netherlands based company is another winner of the Digital Health Technology Show’s Start-Up of the Year Award 2018. Their eeg.service platform specializes in developing a electroencephalography (EEG) related technique in order to provide better results, compared to the currently available models.

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Artios Pharma raises $84 Million to take DDR Programs to Next Level

Artios Pharma, a U.K. based company in Cambridge, has raised $84 million to take DNA damage response (DDR) programs to the next level of clinical proof of concept. The series B round reported more big-name investors who plan on investing in the research team, as their earlier work on PARP inhibitor Lynparza set the frame for the DDR programs.

Artios Pharma was founded in 2016 with DDR programs in-licensed from Cancer Research Technology, which had developed Lynparza at KuDOS Pharma. After two years, Artios now has advanced programs and it was in need of $84 million to proceed to the clinic. 

LSP and Andera Partners led the round with the support from Novartis Venture Fund and Pfizer Ventures. Other existing shareholders such as SV Health Investors, Arix Bioscience, M Ventures, AbbVie Ventures and IP Group have also contributed to the series B funding round.

DDR drugs target DNA polymerase theta (Polθ), which plays a significant role in DNA repair pathways. Polθ inhibitors selectively destroy cancer cells by disrupting the DNA repair process. The combination of the inhibitor with chemotherapy or radiotherapy could possibly increase the efficacy of cancer therapy. This validated concept has proven attractive to investors.

Rene Kuijten, the managing partner at LSP, said "Artios represents a unique opportunity to deliver a truly world class biotech company. LSP has worked with Artios' team before at KuDOS which developed olaparib, the first approved PARP inhibitor and used in ovarian and breast cancer, creating a billion dollar market.”

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Novo Nordisk Observes Lower 2019 U.S. Prices as Sales Fall

Declining sales of chief drugs of Novo Nordisk in the second quarter saw its shares falling on Wednesday, causing it to lower its prices in the key U.S. market next year.

The world’s leading diabetes drug maker is enduring a period of slow growth partially on account of pricing pressure on the U.S. market, which is responsible for about half of the company’s total sales.

U.S. President Donald Trump has made reducing the price of prescription drugs an issue for his administration and on Tuesday he said that he would make an announcement next week on the matter.

Various pharma companies like Pfizer Inc and Switzerland’s Novartis have commented that they would not bend on planned increases in drug prices.

Novo Nordisk does not intend to follow suit and overturn list price increases announced in July, chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen told reporters, adding: “Neither do we have plans to raise the prices for the rest of the year”.

The company said that “average prices after rebates are expected to be lower compared with the levels in 2018”.

Drug makers also see new U.S. legislation coming year focused on reining in high drug prices. Novo Nordisk comments that the new rules would lower its 2019 sales by 1-2 percent.

Jorgensen annulled media reports that Novo is thinking to lay off as much as 3,000 in reaction to the new legislation.

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Janssen, Bayer Plans to Shut South Korean Plants Seeing a Plunging Demand

Janssen Korea becomes yet another drugmaker to shut its Hyangnam plant in Hwaseong, South Korea, by 2021, stranding an uncounted number of employees.
 
According to a Janssen Korea spokesperson cited by The Korea Times, the closing is a calculated decision made over fall in demand for heavy-dosage drugs.

“Our manufacturing network for solid dosage forms was found to have significant excess capacity, and our future pipeline is unlikely to drive significant volume upside for the solids, due to an ongoing shift of production to cancer drugs and immune booster injections,” the spokesperson told the Korean newspaper.

 “This decision was not made lightly, and Johnson & Johnson remains committed to the Korean market, with further investment planned for the company’s Incheon facility and through its local partnership to produce innovative beauty products in Cheongju for the global market,” said a Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman.

Bayer followed Janssen, by announcing that it would seal a contrast media manufacturing plant in Anseong, as said to Business Korea. It plans to end operations at the unit by the ending of the year as it hunts for a buyer.

 “We have no reason to maintain our plants in every country, because of the global tendency of establishing integrated logistics centers,” a Bayer Korea spokeswoman said, citing a waning Korean market and a consequent mounting payroll burden as the reason, as quoted by The Korea Times.

Bayer has now closed the second plant in the country, following the pack up of its Namyangju plant in 1999. Post that, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck & Co. repeated the same, and as many as 16 plants owned by international pharma companies have been closed in South Korea spanning twenty years, according to Business Korea’s tally.

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Vitals Consumer Services Division Becomes Second Possession of WebMD in Two Months

WebMD, an Internet Brands company, announced its purchase of Vitals Consumer Services Division from Mdx Medical in a period of two months since its earlier acquisition.

The division, which specializes in giving consumers online tools to contact clinicians, comprises of vitals.com and UCompareHealthCare.com. The acquisition will also embrace the MedHelp tool, which offers a medium for patients to bond with their peers.

“The consumer-first mission of Vitals Consumer Services Division, as evidenced by its strong commitment to transparent information and data, makes it a natural fit within the WebMD network,” Dr. Steve Zatz, WebMD CEO, said in a statement. “We plan to quickly open our combined platform to providers, provider networks, and other health systems that are seeking to drive new patients into their practices.”

WebMD has been persistent in growing its provider directory in the past year, as per the company. This new attainment hopes to help the united platforms create as many as 10 million consumer visits every month. 

“We have long operated the Vitals Enterprise and Vitals Consumer businesses separately. We are delighted that Vitals Consumer Services has found a home with WebMD, and we believe those two platforms together will delight consumers who are shopping for a provider,” Heyward Donigan, president and CEO of Vitals, said in a statement. “Our Vitals Enterprise business continues on independently, delivering a leading digital engagement platform for our health plan and employer customers that creates a competitive healthcare marketplace and helps their members choose the best providers.”

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Sun Pharma Launches Kapspargo Sprinkle to Treat Chest Pain & High Blood Pressure

Sun Pharma, India’s largest drugmaker, has launched Kapspargo Sprinkle in the US. This drug is used in the treatment of heart failure, chest pain, and high blood pressure.

The US-FDA approved Kapspargo Sprinkle, a patented formulation of metoprolol succinate, which is the only extended-release sprinkle formulation of beta1-selective adrenoreceptor blocking agent called beta-blocker.

These metoprolol succinate extended-release tablets have overall sales of around $600-700 million per annum in the US.

These Kapspargo sprinkle pellets can either be sprinkled over soft food or administered via a nasogastric tube. They were designed for once-daily long-term administration, especially for patients who have difficulty in swallowing tablets.

Abhay Gandhi, the CEO-North America of Sun Pharma said, "Roughly 40 percent of patients requiring long-term care have difficulty swallowing, a problem that may result in patient non-adherence to medications as well as medication errors."

Abhay Gandhi further added, "Kapspargo Sprinkle capsules may make it easier for patients to take their antihypertensive medication. This innovative product is the latest example of Sun Pharma’s use of advanced technology to create novel formulations of proven medications."

These extended-release capsules are available in varied dosage strengths of 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg and 200 mg.

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