...attractiveness or competitiveness of the company in the real market. It was pure, simple survival of the company and the investment. Startup shutdowns, in their view, were no higher than usual–less than 5% of venture-backed US digital health companies (i.e., have raised >$2M). In this Editor’s view, the percentage does not capture the prominence of the startup shutdowns: Babylon Health, Quil Health, Pear Therapeutics, OliveAI, Smile Direct, Cureatr, SimpleHealth, The Pill Club, Hurdle. It also doesn’t count Amazon shutting down Halo, Cano Health’s parting out before this week’s bankruptcy, as well as Bright Health’s (now NeueHealth) divestitures and shutdowns through... Continue Reading
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News roundup: Cano Health files Ch. 11 bankruptcy, delisted (updated), Walgreens lays off more, Allina Health outsources 2,000 RCM jobs to Optum
...Dive. FierceHealthcare dubbed this a ‘spectacular collapse’ (which it isn’t–that was Babylon Health) but includes some speculation from Ari Gottlieb, a principal at A2 Strategy Group whom this Editor has quoted before, that since Humana has a stake in and partnered with Cano, they should simply pick up what’s left. However, Humana may not be in a cash position to do so, given its recent losses in its Medicare Advantage business that also helped to sink Cano (partly paywalled). The local take in the Sun-Sentinel. Less drastic but equally, more signs of the times: Walgreens laid off 145 more staff,... Continue Reading
Peering through the cloudy crystal ball into 2024 healthcare investment and company health
Will 2024 be the mirror image of 2023? This time last year, signs pointed to slow, steady growth after the bubble bath of 2020-early 2022 was followed by failures of tech-leveraged banks (SVB and Signature in March 2023) leading to a mid-year bust [TTA 11 Aug 23]. Some big deals kicked off the year (CVS’ Carbon Health investment, Oak Street mega-buy TTA 16 Feb 23). Then as the year went on, they were followed by sheer turmoil–huge losses and business divestitures (Cano Health, Bright Health, insurtechs like Clover and Oscar), bankruptcies and shutdowns (Babylon, Pear, Quil, OliveAI, Smile Direct, Cureatr,... Continue Reading
Cigna-Humana deal fizzles after two weeks after term discussion fails, shareholders nix
...respective strengths in pharmacy benefit management (PBM) though with different focuses. Even more than the increasingly hostile Federal antitrust environment between DOJ and FTC, it also points to the paucity of funding for mergers and acquisitions–M&A down 14% so far this year to about $1.2 trillion according to Dealogic. In about three years, healthcare funding has gone from money thrown by VC and PE investors at what we recognize now as shaky propositions (Cerebral, Babylon Health, Olive AI, Pear) to no interest (or funds available) in what would be quality matchups. The pendulum swings–and swings back. We hope. Healthcare Dive... Continue Reading
Some final words on Olive AI–what can we learn from its failure? (updated)
...client reviews (KLAS) plus non-renewals started to pile up. Come 2022 with healthcare paying the Pandemic Piper and interest rates inflating, the VC funding spigots turned suddenly to ‘OFF’. The grow-at-any-cost early-stage companies found that when it came to VC funding, as they say in New Jersey, they couldn’t get arrested. So the end, as with Pear, Olive, and Babylon, came quickly. (Cue the tinny piano playing ‘Melancholy Baby’ in a dive bar.) So for your startup or early stage company… A Guide to Avoiding A Train Wreck. Don’t believe your own press releases, no matter how well written. And... Continue Reading
Primary care provider Forward introduces CarePod kiosks, raises $100 million for deployment–but will it work this time?
...cleanliness, and claustrophobia. FierceHealthcare, PYMNTS This Editor has also taken a dim view of open kiosks placed in retailers such as CVS Health, Walmart, and supermarkets, such as Higi (bought by Babylon Health but evidently not part of the bankruptcy) and Pursuant Health (the former SoloHealth), having seen all too many of them in dusty corners, neglected, and often with Out Of Order signs. The Forward plan to restrict them to malls, offices, and gyms seems to avoid the retail crunch but one wonders what the breakeven is–or if this is a substitute for office expansion. A commenter with a... Continue Reading
Short takes: follow up on Cano Health’s survival moves, eMed transitioning Babylon Health UK but Babyl Rwanda shuts, DEA extends telehealth prescribing for controlled substances thru 2024
...the current share price of $0.21, a new share’s value would be $12.60. No meeting date has been set, though the press release bluntly states that 30% shareholder ITC Rumba, LLC and the 20% held by current and former members of management and the board intend to vote in favor of it, achieving the necessary simple majority. 1:60 does sound last-ditch, reminiscent of Babylon Health’s late 2022 moves in a 1 for 25 exchange, before attempting to go private–and we know how that turned out. Release eMed transitioning Babylon Health services in the UK. A check on Babylon Health’s UK... Continue Reading
Rock Health Q3 funding roundup: shrinking to fit ‘the new normal’ = the doldrums
...Further depressing the market were total hull loss bankruptcies of Babylon Health, Pear Therapeutics, and Friday Health. This Editor will add to this the troubles of Cano Health, Bright Health, SimpleHealth, The Pill Club, Hurdle, and Quil Health, plus the dancing on the edge of Clover and Oscar Health. NextGen Healthcare decided that 41 years of being a public company were enough, and went private two weeks ago. Overall, what there is of funding is shifting over to disease treatment, non-clinical workflow, and healthcare marketplace/value-based care as the top three value propositions so far this year. In 2022, these three... Continue Reading
Could DocGo be another Babylon Health or Theranos? CEO resignation may be only the start of their troubles.
...from two bad dips to $6 in May and December 2022. NS Medical Device DocGo’s response to the AG’s office and to the comptroller, the politics of the New York State and City crisis around thousands of migrants flooding housing, the streets, and schools, whether their contracts continue, and their internal financials will determine DocGo’s viability in the future. For those of us with long memories though, DocGo is repeating a pattern: first Peak Hype Altitude, then the Pileup of Problems on their wings, finally crashing to Total Hull Loss. Those are the ominous parallels with Theranos and Babylon Health.... Continue Reading
Echoes of Theranos in Babylon Health? And additional information on GP at Hand.
Was Babylon Health all a fraud, and where would it place on the Theranos scale? There is an excellent article in MedCityNews that if true, exposes Babylon’s technology as, at minimum, far less than ever claimed. From the perspectives presented, their crash was inevitable. MedCityNews returns to the original debunker, best known to our UK Readers as @DrMurphy11. In February 2020, while Babylon rode a tide of UK hype (not yet in the US), Dr. David Watkins, a consultant oncologist, revealed himself publicly via BBC’s Newsnight [TTA 27 Feb 2020]. He had been documenting Babylon’s chatbot diagnosis problems in GP... Continue Reading
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