💊 Health Futures #52

Happy Monday 👋

This week in the global health industry, Eli Lilly partnered with Mediar Therapeutics in a $780M licensing deal to develop MTX-463, a potential treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Sutter Health, and GE HealthCare formed a strategic partnership to enhance patient care and support clinicians with AI-powered imaging solutions. The initiative includes deploying AI tools to assist physicians and clinicians in analyzing imaging data more efficiently. Regenxbio and Nippon Shinyaku entered an $810M gene therapy deal focused on developing treatments for rare diseases. In health deals, GSK acquired IDRx for $1B to expand its focus on rare cancers, Verdiva Bio raised $411M for obesity treatments, Kardigan secured $300M for cardiology, Innovaccer raised $275M to expand its collaboration with existing customers, and Colossal Biosciences securing $200M to advance genetic engineering technologies.

What's new?

HolonIQ’s new Green Skills Map and Workforce section reveal industry-wide sustainability skills and jobs, as well as workforce development initiatives, supporting upskilling for a sustainable economy.

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💊 Drug Production

🩺 Eli Lilly partnered with Mediar Therapeutics. Eli Lilly partnered with Mediar Therapeutics in a $780M licensing deal to develop MTX-463, a potential treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

💉 The US government settled a patent dispute with Gilead over HIV prevention drugs. The legal dispute was resolved over patents for two HIV prevention pills, Truvada and Descovy. The case centered on the role of government-funded research in developing these medications.

🩹 CNX Therapeutics secured licensing rights from Klaria Pharma. The licensing deal will distribute the migraine drug sumatriptan alginate across Europe, aiming to improve migraine management by offering a novel administration method.

🌐 AI in Health

🩻 Sutter Health partners with GE Healthcare. This strategic partnership focuses on integrating advanced imaging technology into Sutter Health's network to improve diagnostic accuracy and streamline clinical workflows.

💊 Menarini Group and Insilico Medicine entered a second global licensing agreement for an AI-developed preclinical oncology drug. The partnership highlights the potential of innovative technologies to address critical gaps in oncology therapeutics.

🤖 Augmedix secured a contract with Vizient.  The agreement involves providing its AI-powered medical documentation solutions granting Vizient’s healthcare clients access to the Augmedix suite.

🧬 Biotechnology

🧪 Regenxbio signs a $810M gene therapy deal with Nippon Shinyaku. The agreement grants Nippon Shinyaku rights to Regenxbio’s gene therapy technologies for certain rare genetic disorders in Japan.

🎗️ TransCode Therapeutics advanced its clinical trial for cancer treatment. The company is evaluating its RNA-targeted drug, designed to treat cancer, to determine its safety and efficacy.

🔬 Keros Therapeutics halted dosing in the Phase II TROPOS trial of cibotercept for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) due to safety concerns. This trial aims to assess cibotercept's impact on pulmonary hemodynamics and exercise capacity in PAH patients.

🛠️ Skills and Workforce

With reskilling and upskilling playing a key role in closing workforce gaps, HolonIQ is now tracking these impactful initiatives shaping the health industry. Read on for this week’s insights, and discover more in HolonIQ's latest Skills newsletter.

👨‍⚕️ Skillnet Ireland, in collaboration with 20 European academic institutions, research centers, and industry stakeholders, has introduced the Sustainable Healthcare with Digital Health Data Competence (Susa) initiative. This initiative aims to equip over 7,000 healthcare professionals by 2028, the program will offer 20 bachelor's and 26 master's degree courses, along with 16 advanced modules in digital skills, delivered through 12 higher education institutions across nine European countries.

💉 Cera, the UK’s largest health tech company, has secured $150M  to expand its AI-driven home healthcare model, easing NHS pressure and improving patient care. With one million applications for nurse and carer roles in two years, Cera aims to address workforce shortages. Its technology streamlines tasks, enabling carers to provide two extra hours of daily patient care. The funding will also enhance AI capabilities, expand specialized care, support clinical trials, and upskill healthcare workers in AI.

🏥 The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) has launched a $15M H.E.R.O Fund to strengthen the state’s healthcare workforce. This initiative provides matching grants to expand training programs, enhance enrollment capacity, and incentivize high-demand healthcare roles. LDH also invites proposals from educational institutions and industry stakeholders to address critical workforce challenges.

HolonIQ has also launched the Green Skills Map, an open-source framework initiated for cataloging, evaluating, and contextualizing the different components of the rapidly expanding field of green jobs. This comprehensive taxonomy will serve as a resource for understanding the full spectrum and complexity of green skills required across various sectors, thereby enabling a cohesive approach toward achieving net zero and decarbonizing the global economy. Green Skills Map spans 11 areas, 54 sub-areas, and 243 green skills clusters. A snippet of the map covering four areas has been included above. Explore the full map on greenskills.org.

💰 Deals of the Week

⚕️ GSK acquired IDRX for $1B upfront. The acquisition aims to develop a best-in-class product and advance the standard of care in a particular therapeutic area.

💉 Verdiva Bio raised $411M in Series A funding to develop next-generation oral and injectable treatments for obesity.

🩺 Kardigan secured $300M, which the fund intends to use to advance its focus on areas of most unmet need in cardiology. 🏥 Innovaccer raised $275M in a Series F funding round intending to use the funds to accelerate efforts to expand its collaboration with existing customers, introduce new AI and cloud capabilities, and scale a developer ecosystem on the platform.

🧬 Colossal Biosciences secured $200M in Series C funding. The company will use the funds to advance genetic engineering technologies and develop solutions for de-extinction, species preservation, and healthcare.

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Thank you for reading. Have a great week ahead!
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