The Digital Health Update by Paul Sonnier ⋅ Nov 26, 2016 ⋅ #249

I will be making this announcement to 52,000+ members of the Digital Health group on LinkedIn. If you’re on LinkedIn, please do join the group, which allows you to opt in to receiving these announcements in addition to connecting with thousands of other global stakeholders in digital health. Note that I will continue to update this announcement up until sending out the final version via LinkedIn.

The Digital Health Update by Paul Sonnier ⋅ Nov 26, 2016 ⋅ #249

Dear Group,

San Diego-based Genalyte raised a $36M equity funding round led by Vinod Khosla’s Khosla Ventures and the Redmile Group. Unlike Theranos, Genalyte has published in scientific journals, was started by people with a medical background, is working closely with the medical community, and its technology is already used commercially by the pharmaceutical industry. The company plans to conduct clinical studies to validate the accuracy of its finger prick technology against whole blood testing techniques and run more clinical trials to gear up for possible regulatory approval of use in point-of-care settings and, apparently, for consumers.

Speaking of diagnostic testing solutions, Quest Diagnostics is expanding upon its direct-to-consumer lab tests through its MyQuest app. Customers in Colorado and Missouri will be able to see some of their test results via the app.

Plans by Novartis’ Alcon unit and Alphabet’s Verily to begin human testing of an autofocus contact lens for people with presbyopia, or farsightedness, have been postponed until next year. It’s unclear if the glucose-sensing lenses being developed by the two companies are also being delayed. As recently as June of this year, it was reported that a former Verily manager had called the lenses “slideware”, which is a Silicon Valley term for breakthroughs that exist only on PowerPoint images. While scientists have warned about an apparent fatal flaw in using tears to monitor glucose, Verily states that this is still an open scientific/biological question.

In other product-delay news, launch of the social robot ‘Jibo’ has been postponed yet again. Jibo recently raised another $13M in VC funding, bringing their total VC funding amount to over $65M. Amazon’s Echo continues to dominate the smart speaker/AI assistant IoT market, with Google hot on their tail.

The US government has released official guidelines for smart guns/weapons, which will include incorporation of a ‘security device’ to prevent unauthorized use. The US Department of Justice specifications for manufactures of smart guns includes baseline features law enforcement agencies want in future pistol safety technology including pistols with security devices must be able to disable the weapon’s firing mechanism when not in the control of an authorized individual. The security features of smart guns need to be a permanent part of the weapon too, though they are allowed to incorporate external verification accessories like rings, tokens or wristbands. The guidelines also specify what smart gun security features can’t do, including impair operation or increase time needed to draw, holster, or fire a weapon.

If you’re a runner, Graham Bower at Cult of Mac has written his latest and most extensive review yet of the Apple Watch Series 2 for use as a running aid. While training for and competing in the recent TCS New York City Marathon, Graham took advantage of the coordination between the Watch’s new built-in GPS and the iPhone’s GPS, which together improved accuracy of run-tracking and boosted battery life.

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Paul Sonnier
Social Entrepreneur ⋅ Ecosystem Strategist ⋅ Keynote Speaker
Founder, Digital Health group on LinkedIn ⋅ 50,000+ members
Creator, Story of Digital Health
Instagram @StoryofDigitalHealth
Twitter @Paul_Sonnier
San Diego, CA, USA

 

 

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