The financial outlook for the digital health sector is less than ideal, characterized by lower funding amounts, shrinking valuations, dwindling profitability and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. During a recent conference panel, four healthcare VCs discussed their reactions to this. They explained why the market has switched its focus from growth to value, as well gave advice to startups about what they need to know in this changing environment.
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Rite Aid, accusing the pharmacy chain of filling hundreds of thousands of opioid prescriptions that had “obvious, and often multiple, red flags.” The DOJ claimed that Rite Aid violated the Controlled Substances Act by filling unlawful prescriptions for addictive drugs, as well as the False Claims Act when the chain sought reimbursement from federal healthcare programs for these prescriptions.
Cell therapy offers a treatment option for some advanced blood cancers, but the manufacturing process is lengthy and complex. The biopharmaceutical industry is working on various technologies that could make manufacturing faster and more efficient, or perhaps supplant the current process altogether.
CommonSpirit Health is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit over a ransomware attack it suffered last fall that exposed 623,774 patients' personal data. However, hospitals' data breach lawsuits usually never make it court, a legal expert said.
MedCity News interviews CEOs of public companies, entrepreneurs, VCs and payers who had a range of varying answers to the question. But one common theme emerged: everyone, currently, has a vise-like grip on expenditure.