Bayer 2019 G4A Partnerships now open for applications through 31 May

May 23, 2019 | by

Alex Fair of Medstartr has alerted us to Bayer’s G4A Partnerships for their accelerator to develop and scale breakthrough solutions anchored in behavioral science. The program now covers 35 countries to collaborate with startups and healthcare technology companies that are developing innovative solutions in health and care.

Health areas include Cardiovascular, Digital Therapeutics, Global Health, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Pulmonology, Radiology and Women’s Health.

G4A has two tracks for companies based on development stage: 

Growth Track: for companies in the pre-product launch stage. Ideal candidates are seed-stage startups with a Minimal Viable Product validated through acquisition of patents and in publications. Funding is €50-100K to partner + co-create products and solutions with Bayer, plus co-working space in Berlin.

Advance Track: a mature company with a product in the market. Companies will be working jointly with Bayer experts to drive a commercial partnership, co-funded by G4A. There’s a €50-100K initial investment followed by incremental milestone-based payments.

Since 2013, G4A has supported over 150 digital health companies, resulting in 30 direct collaborations, the most recent award being in January: KinAptic (US), Agamon (Israel/UK), and Cyclica (Canada). To apply, see the Partnership page and click on Apply Now. Finalists will be notified in August for the formal announcement in Berlin in early October. But you have to move quickly. as it closes 31 May!

Bayer’s G4A accelerator awards agreements with KinAptic, Agamon, Cyclica (DE)

January 25, 2019 | by

KinAptic (US), Agamon (Israel/UK), and Cyclica (Canada) are the three winners of Bayer’s 100 day G4A accelerator program. They now move to collaboration agreements with Bayer to further develop their products and services.

The final three were picked from six who were awarded a 100-day intensive in Berlin from the end of August. They in turn were selected from over 1,800 competitors from 100 countries. All six represent an interesting spread of innovative companies that have developed specialized applications that can positively impact everyday patient health.

KinAptic specializes in biometric wearables, including VR and sensor-based electrical stimulation, for several medical applications: stroke rehabilitation, pain mitigation, muscle re-education, fitness tracking, strength training, and tremor mitigation. KinAptic was one of the winners of MedStartr Momentum 2017 in NYC, which was co-sponsored by Bayer G4A. (TTA is a sponsor and supporter of MedStartr, including Momentum 2017).

Agamon is a healthcare intelligence platform that collects, structures, and evaluates data to support clinical trial candidate identification out of unstructured medical reports. With Bayer, they plan to deploy their platform into two to three hospitals as a testing ground.

Cyclica uses AI and biophysics to accelerate drug development. Specifically, they are developing algorithms based on biophysics to gain new insights into the polypharmacological profiles of small molecules and to expedite discovery of new medicines through structural pharmacogenomics.

The three runners up were OME (personalized health coaching–UK), S-There Technologies (health data via urinalysis–ES), and Zencorlabs (AI for heart failure–DE). We look for more news from all six in the future. Hat tip to Joseph Curcio of KinAptic via LinkedIn. Bayer G4A announcements: winners and the accelerator program.

What’s news at the end of the week

June 11, 2015 | by

Care Innovations harmonizes seniors, Panasonic adds diabetes, Jawbone and Fitbit bite, the first EHR/PHR Hack and Concussion in Cleveland. Converging its interests in remote patient monitoring with its long-time footprint in senior housing resident monitoring (QuietCare), Intel-GE Care Innovations is testing its Health Harmony remote patient monitoring system, partnering with two California-located Front Porch communities and the Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing. The residents selected have poor chronic condition management or have returned after a discharge from a skilled nursing facility. No disclosure on projected number or duration–and it doesn’t appear that QuietCare is part of the monitoring. Release….Panasonic just bought Bayer Healthcare’s diabetes/blood glucose monitoring device unit for $1.13 billion as Bayer continues to shed non-life science businesses. While old-school prick-and-bleed monitors are being eclipsed by continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and mobile-based devices such as Telcare in the US and in Europe, there’s plenty of market remaining in the West, and new ones in Asia and the Middle East for simple devices. It joins Panasonic’s existing blood pressure monitors. MedCityNews….Jawbone and Fitbit continue to snap at each other in court, with the former on Wednesday filing a second lawsuit on patent infringement, specifically “a wellness application using data from a data-capable band”, with the added fillip of going to the International Trade Commission, which could ban the import of Fitbit products or component parts. The 28 May lawsuit was about Fitbit’s hiring of five former Jawbone employees who allegedly stole IP. The companies between them have hundreds of patents, and as this Editor has noted in previous IP and patent troll articles, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is not especially rigorous in ensuring that patents are not overbroad. Wonderful for the IP attorneys, but not exactly what Fitbit wants as a runup to their expected IPO next week. Wall Street Journal….Now an EHR and PHR join Hackermania Running Wild. Medical Informatics Engineering reported Tuesday that in May their server was cyberattacked, exposing PHI of patients in five clients and separately information contained in the NoMoreClipboard PHR subsidiary. POLITICO reports that this is the first recorded instance of an EHR compromise. MIE Release, POLITICO Morning eHealth….If you are in the Cleveland, Ohio area and have an interest, Concussion: A National Challenge is a free, two-day event on detection and diagnosis sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Metro Health and Taipei Medical University. Advance registration required.

Friday telehealth ‘snaps’

May 10, 2013 | by

It appears that Bayer HealthCare is exiting the telehealth business with the sale of Viterion TeleHealthCare to the newly formed Viterion Corporation. According to the press release, Japan’s NSD Co., Ltd. through its US subsidiary is providing the investment and strategic support, and taking on all products and personnel. Viterion’s offerings in recent years have remained fairly static, but the Viterion release promises a change to “advancing our technology offerings, and in particular the migration to wireless and mobile applications.” Viterion also had speakers and a booth at ATA 2013.

Mobile connectivity is now reaching everywhere. Canadian companies PatientOrderSets.com, a developer of web-based evidence-based clinical checklists to specify appropriate patient treatments, acquired fliiSolutions (pronounced Fly). Its fliiTherapy connects providers and patients through a rehabilitation/exercise prescribing/tracking app. Announcement on the PatientOrderSets.com website.

For mothers in the hospital temporarily separated by necessity from their babies in Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit, the new Baby Time iPad app enables them to check on and interact with their newborns. This will aid the estimated 20 to 30 percent of mothers who undergo C-sections and cannot be ambulatory for 24 to 48 hours. Cedars-Sinai release. (Hat tip to TANN Ireland’s Toni Bunting)

Tunstall Americas announced at ATA the introduction of its Vi telehealth/two-way PERS unit, iVi fall detection pendant and the CEL450 home-based cellular PERS, although the blog placement is rather low-key. Release.