#25 Healthcare’s price tag 💰
#25 Healthcare’s price tag 💰
Also: human embrace, AI drug discovery squeezes & sexy sleepies.
Think about it 💡
📈 Healthcare costs are set to rise like a tidal wave, exceeding previous forecasts with a 7% increase next year. Inflation has fuelled a heightened financial need among providers, forcing them to seek higher reimbursements. Non-essential care delayed during the pandemic has turned the use of outpatient services into a rollercoaster ride for health plans. Not to mention expensive drugs and supply chain dramas. On the bright side, biosimilars are emerging as cost savers as the healthcare delivery system swings towards cheaper outpatient facilities and virtual care. Hold on to your wallets, folks.
👩⚕️ AI in healthcare has garnered hype, but patients still prefer the human touch. While a significant number of adults are comfortable with AI-led primary care, over 80% would rather see a human doctor for prescribing pain meds and making critical decisions. Perhaps our fondness for personalized experiences and deep seated skepticism about the unknown lead us to cling to human providers. Or does it?
Zooming in on AI drug discovery 🔍
💊 Despite funding woes, the AI drug discovery space continues to see notable players making moves. Thanks to AI, drug discovery has taken a leap forward, making protein design and identifying potential drugs more efficient for instance.
💸 While funding has slowed down, 2023 still witnessed some significant deals, such as BioNTech's $682M acquisition of InstaDeep and Eli Lilly's $250M deal with XtalPi.
📊 But global venture activity has dwindled, resulting in fewer AI deals overall compared to the 2021 boom. Funding to AI drug discovery companies has taken a hit as well, with a noticeable drop in mega-rounds of $100M+. In 2021, mega-rounds accounted for 70% of funding, but in 2022, that number fell to 30%, and so far, 2023 hasn't seen any mega-rounds at all.
Neat News 🗞️
💊 Speaking of AI and drugs - the first entirely AI-generated drug is entering clinical trials on human patients. Neat.
💰 Eureka raised $7M to be the "Yelp for treatments" of chronic illness. Super neat.
📜 Perrigo received historic FDA approval for over-the-counter oral contraceptive Opill. Ultra neat.
Clean Content 🧼
🤔 Apparently, this is what every health system CFO needs to know before using AI for medical coding.
🏖️ Fancy lounging by the pool while appearing brainy? Behold, STAT’s collection of books and podcasts on health and science indulge in this summer.
💡 Nabla’s Machine Learning Engineers spilled the beans on our Speech-To-Text engine for medical consultations in a new blog post.
This is what you came for 🍑
💤 Sleep well, sleep sound, and have some fun all around. A recent study published in the Journal of Sleep Research dived into the effects of sexual activity on sleep, and guess what? Partnered sex with a happy ending was found to be the ultimate sleep promoter, while solo pleasure didn't quite rock the slumber boat. Gentlemen, watch out - not reaching that grand finale might leave you tossing and turning. If you want to catch some quality Zzz's, you know what to do.
See ya around,