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Google, Bayer team up to develop new AI products for radiologists
Healthcare company Bayer has tapped Google for its cloud and artificial intelligence capabilities to build new tech products to assist radiologists.
Bayer wants to pair its radiology, healthcare regulator and clinical data handling expertise with Google’s tech muscle and ongoing work in generative AI to speed up innovation in medical imaging, according to the companies.
Appili Therapeutics to be acquired by Virginia-based life sciences company Aditxt
Halifax-based biopharmaceutical company Appili Therapeutics has agreed to be acquired by Virginia life sciences company Aditxt in a nearly $17-million CAD deal.
Appili president and CEO Don Cilla said the transaction will allow Appili to leverage Aditxt’s research and development, operations, and commercialization expertise to develop its treatment programs.
(BetaKit)
Telehealth providers can drive antibiotic overuse — or choose to combat it
Ho Anh had just started working at Lemonaid Health when he was caught up in a sting.
“Mark Peters” filled out a brief questionnaire about his imaginary symptoms, and Anh answered in a message: “Mark” likely had a bacterial sinus infection, the doctor said, writing a prescription for 10 days of amoxicillin. Another undercover investigator, “Mary Peters,” got antibiotics for a nonexistent urinary tract infection.
That care, the medical board charged in 2018, was negligent: Anh didn’t collect vital signs, get a reliable medical history, or otherwise verify that his patients were actually sick and needed antibiotics. The doctor, who went on to serve in leading roles at Hims and Cerebral, walked away with a reprimand and a promise to take a course in prescribing practices in 2020.
(STAT)
CleanBC program investigation prompts fear of provincial startup fallout from cleantech and grant experts
Allegations of conflict of interest at British Columbia cleantech grant programs for electric vehicles have sparked a provincial investigation into MNP’s administration approach.
Multiple grant and cleantech experts BetaKit spoke with believe that a review is warranted but expressed worry that the outcome for BC tech firms will be similar to the fallout from the Sustainable Development Technology Canada scandal, albeit on a much smaller scale.
“The best outcome is to do [this] review quickly and come to an agreement that gets the money flowing again soon,” Jeanette Jackson, CEO of Vancouver-based cleantech accelerator Foresight Canada, said in an interview with BetaKit.
(BetaKit)
Grow Therapy Secures $88M To Expand Mental Health Services
Grow Therapy, a mental health technology company, has raised $88 million in Series C funding, which it plans to use to reach more patients, the company announced Monday.
Grow Therapy helps independent therapists set up their own in-person and virtual private practices and supports them with administrative tasks like billing and insurance claims. It then helps patients book in-person or virtual appointments with therapists who specialize in their needs and are in their network.
IPON invests $4.6 million to build IP capacity at post-secondary institutions
Ontario’s intellectual property agency is investing $4.6 million into post-secondary institutions to help them better commercialize ideas and products.
Each awarded university is putting the new funding towards different activities.
“This funding will help institutions across the province more effectively translate research into commercializable innovations, while ensuring the IP at their foundation is appropriately developed and protected,” Dan Herman, CEO of IPON, said in a statement.
(BetaKit)
Washington wants to avert another Change Healthcare-like fiasco. Here’s what could be coming
In the weeks since a ransomware attack on Change Healthcare brought pharmacy and hospital payments across the country to a halt, policymakers and lobbyists have raced to cobble together strategies for averting future attacks, ranging from tying federal aid to minimum cybersecurity requirements to new voluntary standards spun up by public-private partnerships.
(STAT)
As crypto regains momentum, Coinbase Canada’s Lucas Matheson zeroes in on the next big goal: adoption
To Lucas Matheson, CEO of Coinbase Canada, it’s now clear that crypto as an asset class is “here to stay,” and the industry is now shifting to a new focus: driving adoption.
“Now is the opportunity for us to shift and help evangelize the opportunity for Canadians to get access to the digital economy,” Matheson told BetaKit.
In a recent fireside discussion with BetaKit interim CEO Satish Kanwar, Matheson explored how Coinbase is looking to catalyze crypto adoption in Canada, the role that the government will play, and Canada’s wider innovation opportunity.
(BetaKit)
Healthtech Zoe announces 20% cost cutting, detailing redundancy packages
UK gut health startup Zoe — one of Europe’s best-funded direct-to-consumer healthtechs — has announced it will reduce its costs by 20%.
CEO and cofounder Jonathan Wolf said that the personalised nutrition startup “overexpanded” its team over the past six months.
(Sifted)
Intel says enterprises need choice to scale AI’s potential
Following Intel’s CEO keynote and announcement at the company’s Vision conference of more energy-efficient processing chips and an open AI app ecosystem, Asma Aziz, Canada Marketing Director at Intel, spoke with BetaKit about why the company believes the path to enterprise AI adoption is through open ecosystems rather than walled gardens.
(BetaKit)
Feature image courtesy National Cancer Institute via Unsplash.