Mayo Clinic Unveils Ambitious Plans for Healthcare Transformation

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🌐 Healthcare x News

Bold. Forward. Unbound.: Mayo Clinic's $5 Billion Vision to Redefine Patient Care

Mayo Clinic's Board of Trustees has given the green light to an ambitious initiative, Bold. Forward. Unbound., aiming to transform healthcare and enhance patient and staff experiences. This strategic project, part of Mayo Clinic’s overarching Bold. Forward. strategy, involves redesigning the downtown Rochester campus and introducing cutting-edge facilities that blend innovative care concepts with digital technologies.

Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., President, and CEO of Mayo Clinic, sees this initiative as an opportunity to redefine the future of healthcare. The Rochester project is a key part of Mayo Clinic’s broader plan to seamlessly integrate physical spaces and digital capabilities across all its sites.

The project includes innovative architectural elements and community-centered neighborhoods that bring services together around common patient needs and diseases. These neighborhoods aim to create continuous care environments, fostering hope and healing through nature and connected spaces.

Mayo Clinic's new clinical buildings, a significant component of the project, feature a first-of-its-kind design with a flexible grid. This adaptability allows spaces to shift functions as needed over time, providing a forward-looking approach to care delivery. The total investment in the project is $5 billion over six years.

The transformative vision also emphasizes the importance of integrated digital capabilities, blurring the lines between inpatient and outpatient care. The goal is to create a seamless, patient-centric experience while supporting Mayo Clinic teams in meaningful connections with their patients.

Mayo Clinic's Bold. Forward. Unbound. project is a testament to its commitment to healthcare innovation. With a multiyear construction timeline, the goal is to open some facilities as early as 2028, with completion expected by 2030. This initiative aligns with Mayo Clinic's values, bringing teams together for the benefit of patients, staff, and the broader community.

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💰  Healthcare x Startups

Nuralogix raises $120 million for AI-powered brain-computer interface platform: This California-based company secured funding to advance its BCI technology for restoring neurological function.

Alto Pharmacy acquires Capsule for $350 million, expanding medication delivery services: This acquisition strengthens Alto's reach and capabilities in delivering medications directly to patients' homes.

DayTwo raises $20 million for AI-based gut microbiome testing platform: This London-based company utilizes AI to analyze gut microbiome data and personalize dietary and lifestyle recommendations.

Owkin announces partnership with Microsoft to accelerate AI-powered drug discovery: This collaboration leverages Azure cloud resources and AI tools for faster development of new drugs and therapies.

Hinge Health partners with Aetna to provide musculoskeletal rehabilitation services: This partnership provides Aetna members with access to Hinge Health's digital musculoskeletal rehabilitation platform.

BiomX raises $100 million to combat chronic diseases with gut microbiome: This Israeli-American company secured funding to advance its microbiome-based therapies for chronic inflammatory and metabolic diseases.

Cleared.ai raises $16 million for AI-powered medical imaging workflow optimization: This Dutch startup's AI platform improves medical imaging workflows and diagnostic accuracy.

XRHealth secures $70 million for VR-based therapy platform: This Israeli-American company expands its VR platform used for pain management, mental health therapy, and physical rehabilitation.

Ginkgo Bioworks expands CRISPR capabilities with $250 million acquisition: This acquisition bolsters Ginkgo's CRISPR-based gene editing capabilities and accelerates biomanufacturing.

XRHealth secures $70 million for VR-based therapy platform: This Israeli-American company expands its VR platform used for pain management, mental health therapy, and physical rehabilitation.

Maia Oncology Raises $4.25M to Launch Oncology-Focused Primary Care

Maia Oncology, a virtual clinic coordinating cancer and primary care, raised $4.25M to scale its model tackling a major gap. Founded by 5-year cancer survivor Liya Shuster-Bier after her own suboptimal experience, Maia partners with oncologists to holistically manage treatment side effects.

Anchored by an onco-PCP, Maia’s multidisciplinary team proactively screens for and addresses emerging conditions exacerbated by cancer therapy. This aims to improve outcomes and lower costs related to ER visits and hospitalizations.

Initially focused on breast cancer patients, who face high cardiovascular risks long-term, Maia ultimately envisions becoming the nation’s leading onco-PCP practice. By bridging once divorced specialties, Maia reimagines care delivery to meet modern cancer survivorship needs.

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Fortuna Health Raises $4M to Simplify Medicaid Enrollment Hurdles √

Fortuna Health, a startup streamlining Medicaid access, picked up $4M led by a16z to drive expansion. Cofounded by entrepreneur Nikita Singareddy, who experienced enrollment challenges firsthand, Fortuna offers a mobile solution tackling eligibility checks, applications, and renewal tracking.

By removing barriers facing the 90M+ Medicaid population, Fortuna aims to reduce member churn and downstream costs. The seed round welcomed notable healthcare angels like Cityblock founder Iyah Romm. Fortuna's partnerships with providers, health plans, and support organizations also strengthen coordinated Medicaid member care.

As post-COVID policies unravel safety nets, driving millions from coverage, Fortuna’s timely solution promotes health equity. Intuitive tech eliminates procedural terminating of benefits. Investor John Legend said simplifying Medicaid is essential for ensuring access.

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🕰️ Blasts from the Past: This Week in Medical History

November 30, 1922 - Insulin is first used to treat a patient with diabetes, marking a revolutionary breakthrough in the management of this chronic disease.

December 1, 1953 - Jonas Salk announces the development of a polio vaccine, a significant milestone in the fight against this debilitating disease.

December 2, 1961 - Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the first heart transplant in South Africa, demonstrating the feasibility of this complex surgical procedure.

December 3, 1978 - Louise Brown, the first IVF baby, is born in England, paving the way for assisted reproductive technologies.

December 6, 1995 - The FDA approves the first gene therapy treatment for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), opening up new avenues for genetic therapy.

December 7, 1997 - Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal, is born in Scotland, highlighting the potential and ethical implications of cloning technology.

🧠 Healthcare x AI

Preparing Future Doctors: Dual MD/AI Degree Equips Clinicians to Lead Health Innovation

The University of Texas launched the first US program combing medicine and artificial intelligence to ready students for healthcare’s tech-enabled future. After years of coordination, the rigorous 5-year MD/MS in AI curriculum aims to produce clinician-innovators equally adept at leveraging and advancing AI.

Students take a yearlong hiatus after year 3 for graduate-level AI coursework. This niche expertise helps applications stand out for competitive residencies. Program director Dr. Ronald Rodriguez argues that rather than be passive “end users,” clinicians must proactively direct health AI development.

With careful infrastructure building, Rodriguez hopes the pioneering dual degree inspires other leading medical schools. Comprehensive AI literacy ensures doctors wield influencer power over technology optimally benefitting patients. Equipped with tech-focused training, UT’s graduates will drive healthcare’s responsible digital transformation.

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Absci and AstraZeneca Join Forces in AI-Driven Breakthrough Against Cancer

Absci Corporation and AstraZeneca are teaming up to leverage the power of artificial intelligence (AI) in the quest for a groundbreaking oncology treatment. Absci's cutting-edge AI antibody discovery platform will combine forces with AstraZeneca's oncology expertise, aiming to swiftly discover a potential game-changing cancer therapy.

Absci's Integrated Drug Creation™ platform, driven by generative AI, will play a pivotal role in designing a therapeutic antibody for a specific oncology target. The collaboration involves upfront commitments, R&D funding, milestone payments, and royalties on future product sales. Sean McClain, Absci's Founder & CEO, expressed excitement about the partnership, highlighting its potential to improve the lives of cancer patients.

Absci's platform, utilizing generative AI and advanced wet-lab technologies, accelerates drug discovery by swiftly completing the cycle of data collection, AI-driven design, and wet-lab validation. The process, estimated to take just six weeks, opens new possibilities for drug targets, including traditionally challenging ones like GPCRs and ion channels.

AstraZeneca's Puja Sapra, Senior Vice President of Biologics Engineering & Oncology Targeted Delivery, sees the collaboration as an exciting opportunity to harness Absci's de novo AI antibody creation platform for designing a potential new antibody therapy in oncology.

This collaboration marks another significant step for Absci, following its recent publication on de novo antibody design using its state-of-the-art 'zero-shot' generative AI model. As Absci continues to make waves in the biopharmaceutical landscape, this partnership with AstraZeneca holds promise for groundbreaking advancements in cancer treatment.

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❤️ Healthcare x Impact

Walgreens Closes Most Stores on Thanksgiving to Support Staff

Breaking over a century of tradition, Walgreens announced it will shutter most of its 8,700+ pharmacies and retail locations on Thanksgiving Day 2022. The move aims to give hard-working staff "time with loved ones" amid recent labor tensions.

Walgreens stated consistently hearing that valued time off demonstrates employees are treasured. Yet 700 24-hour stores, several distribution centers, and supply teams stay operational.

With pharmacies typically open holidays, it's unclear if rivals CVS and RiteAid will follow suit. But during ongoing unionization pushes over working conditions and understaffing issues, the bold decision represents a symbolic win for Walgreens employees this season.

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🌎  Healthcare x Security

Blue Shield of California Reveals Data Breach Impacting Unknown Number of Members

Blue Shield disclosed that a vendor data breach exposed an unspecified number of member records. The unauthorized access occurred via file transfer platform MOVEit, which stores sensitive patient information.

The breach, identified in August and originating in May, may have revealed names, birth dates, SSNs, IDs, and diagnoses. Blue Shield stated notifications and credit monitoring were provided but did not share further details.

Beyond rebuilding MOVEit with enhanced security, the health plan said it takes data protection extremely seriously and is fully investigating the incident. But with the number of victims unclear, the true impact remains unknown. Greater transparency is still needed surrounding the breach's scope and scale.

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That’s all for this week.
The Pulse Disruption Team