• Login
    • Join
  • FOLLOW:
  • Subscribe Free
    • Magazine
    • eNewsletter
    Checkout
    • Magazine
    • News
    • Opinions
    • Top 30
    • Research
    • Supply Chain
    • Device Sectors
    • Directory
    • Events
    • Resources
    • Microsites
    • More
  • Magazine
  • News
  • Opinions
  • Top 30
  • Research
  • Supply Chain
  • Device Sectors
  • Directory
  • Events
  • Resources
  • Microsites
  • Current / Back Issues
    Features
    Editorial
    Digital Edition
    eNewsletter Archive
    Our Team
    Editorial Guidelines
    Reprints
    Subscribe Now
    Advertise Now
    Top Features
    Deep (Brain) Thoughts with Medtronic's Neuromodulation President

    Grab and Go: Examining the Thrombectomy Device Market

    Fine Print: A Discourse on Additive Manufacturing

    MPO's 2022 Medtech Industry Year in Review

    Micro Molding for Medtech Is Miniature Magic
    OEM News
    Supplier News
    Service / Press Releases
    Online Exclusives
    Press Releases
    People in the News
    Product & Service Releases
    Supplier News
    Medtech Makers
    Technical Features
    International News
    Videos
    Product & Service Releases
    Live From Shows
    Regulatory
    Financial/Business
    Top News
    BMP Medical Expands Sterling, Massachusetts Facility

    Abbott's Proclaim XR SCS OK'ed for Diabetic Neuropathy

    Environmental Sustainability Becoming Increasingly Important to Medtech Industry

    Duane DiFranco Joins Harvard MedTech’s Medical Advisory Board

    Lionel Bonte Named President of Mativ’s Healthcare and Wellness Business Unit
    From the Editor
    Blogs
    Guest Opinions
    Top Opinions
    Deep (Brain) Thoughts with Medtronic's Neuromodulation President

    Grab and Go: Examining the Thrombectomy Device Market

    Fine Print: A Discourse on Additive Manufacturing

    MPO's 2022 Medtech Industry Year in Review

    Micro Molding for Medtech Is Miniature Magic
    Top 30 Medical Device Companies
    Market Data
    White Papers
    Top Research
    Reflections on 2022 and What’s Ahead for Medtech: MPO Sounding Board

    3 Ways to Prepare for ISO 13485/Part 820 Harmonization

    A New Home for Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes?

    Health Cost Drivers for Large Employers

    Braving Change: Facing Fears in the Midst of Major Transitions
    3D/Additive Manufacturing
    Contract Manufacturing
    Electronics
    Machining & Laser Processing
    Materials
    Molding
    Packaging & Sterilization
    R&D & Design
    Software & IT
    Testing
    Tubing & Extrusion
    Cardiovascular
    Diagnostics
    Digital Health
    Neurological
    Patient Monitoring
    Surgical
    Orthopedics
    All Companies
    Categories
    Company Capabilities
    Add New Company
    Outsourcing Directory
    LEMO USA Inc.

    Halkey-Roberts Corporation

    NDH Medical Inc.

    Medbio LLC

    Paragon Medical
    MPO Summit
    Industry Events
    Webinars
    Live From Show Event
    Industry Associations
    Videos
    Career Central
    eBook
    Slideshows
    Top Resources
    How Artificial Intelligence Can Combat Key Issues Impacting Healthcare

    Why Advanced Sensors Are Crucial Within Medical Pumps

    How Artificial Intelligence Could Help Prevent 80% of Chronic Diseases

    4 Ways to Use Injection Molding in Medical Device Manufacturing

    Telemedicine and Connectivity to Drive Material Innovation in the Near Future
    Companies
    News Releases
    Product Releases
    Press Releases
    Product Spec Sheets
    Service Releases
    Case Studies
    White Papers
    Brochures
    Videos
    Outsourcing Directory
    LEMO USA Inc.

    Halkey-Roberts Corporation

    NDH Medical Inc.

    Medbio LLC

    Paragon Medical
    • Magazine
      • Current/Back Issues
      • Features
      • Editorial
      • Columns
      • Digital Editions
      • Subscribe Now
      • Advertise Now
    • News
    • Directory
      • All Companies
      • ALL CATEGORIES
      • Industry Associations
      • Company Capabilities
      • Add Your Company
    • Supply Chain
      • 3D/Additive Manufacturing
      • Contract Manufacturing
      • Electronics
      • Machining & Laser Processing
      • Materials
      • Molding
      • Packaging & Sterilization
      • R&D & Design
      • Software & IT
      • Testing
      • Tubing & Extrusion
    • Device Sectors
      • Cardiovascular
      • Diagnostics
      • Digital Health
      • Neurological
      • Patient Monitoring
      • Surgical
      • Orthopedics
    • Top 30 Company Report
    • Expert Insights
    • Slideshows
    • Videos
    • eBook
    • Resources
    • Podcasts
    • Infographics
    • Whitepapers
    • Research
      • White Papers
      • Case Studies
      • Product Spec Sheets
      • Market Data
    • MPO Summit
    • Events
      • Industry Events
      • Live From Show Events
      • Webinars
    • Microsite
      • Companies
      • Product Releases
      • Product Spec Sheets
      • Services
      • White Papers / Tech Papers
      • Press Releases
      • Videos
      • Literature / Brochures
      • Case Studies
    • About Us
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise with Us
      • eNewsletter Archive
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of Use
    Columns

    Five Themes to Watch as Digital Health Takes Center Stage

    Here are five themes to watch in the sector, including what life sciences developers and investors should know about the current deal-making landscape.

    Five Themes to Watch as Digital Health Takes Center Stage
    Stephen W. Bernstein, Partner, McDermott Will & Emery03.03.21
    The challenges of the past year have underscored the importance of life sciences to a dramatic degree. With countries worldwide now distributing vaccines that were developed in record time, COVID-19 has also made plain the value of investing in technological and scientific solutions that can reshape the world and improve health outcomes.

    The pandemic has particularly accelerated investments in the digital health space, as a significant share of everyday life has migrated to computer screens by necessity. So what does this mean for the sector going forward? Here are five themes to watch in the digital health sector, including what life sciences developers and investors should know about the current deal-making landscape.

    Digital Health Is Getting Bigger and More Collaborative
    If money talks, then the $14 billion that venture investors poured into 440 digital health deals last year speaks volumes about where healthcare is heading. According to Rock Health, that total was up 72 percent from the previous high in 2018, when 383 transactions were closed. Values increased, too, with 40 separate deals closing in excess of $100 million. The startups that received the most investment were in the on-demand healthcare, research and development, and at-home fitness, and wellness categories.

    The sheer variety among these categories illustrates that digital health can mean different things to different people. Many people picture the tools that help patients connect with their physicians and other providers, such as telehealth platforms. But there are also tools that help patients connect with their own symptoms and those that help care providers connect not with the patient directly, but with the patient’s symptoms and history through remote monitoring. It can mean the tools that help life sciences and medical device companies connect with clinical trial subjects or evaluate mountains of data for drug discovery using artificial intelligence. And it now includes tools that are themselves therapies, which is the terrain of digital therapeutics, or those used as diagnostic tools for diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

    The variation within digital health means the system runs among multiple players, and, as a result, collaboration is often the essence of any deal. Such activity has often been in the form of M&A transactions, but more often lately, multiple parties have come together to co-develop a digital product or service and bring it to market.

    Clinical Trial Disruptions Are Uncovering New Digital Opportunities
    While the pandemic accelerated digital health investments and COVID-19 research, it brought many clinical trials to a standstill. The Lancet reported last summer that approximately 80 percent of non-COVID-19 clinical research trials—numbering in the thousands—were either suspended or stopped. Such disruptions could have a long-lasting impact on research, as well as devastating consequences for patients who had been waiting to enroll in drug trials.

    However, the pandemic also has revealed how digital tools could help improve clinical trials going forward. First, digital platforms could make the enrollment process faster. Clinical trial subjects could learn about their decision to participate while at home, and then electronically consent to participate following an online video interview. Second, companies have been saying for years that delays in recruiting subjects cost them millions of dollars. Digital tools could help identify potential subjects more easily, especially if deployed outside of major medical centers and in settings where people receive their everyday care.

    Technological Complexity Is Presenting Regulatory and Policymaking Concerns
    As advances are made in digital health, some players in the sector are increasingly concerned about what may happen on the regulatory and policymaking fronts. Given the sophistication of technologies, lawmakers could potentially establish policies based on fundamental misunderstandings and incorrect assumptions about digital technology’s role in healthcare and who will ultimately use it.

    There are also specific concerns around how federal agencies will effectively regulate and operate within the space. For example, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is the single largest payer for healthcare services in the United States, but the agency is only slowly beginning to modify its benefit categories to evaluate, cover, and reimburse digital health technology. The issue to watch is whether policy is going to incentivize the adoption of technology as innovation accelerates and demand increases from consumers and healthcare providers.

    Investors Are Looking for Clarity
    When it comes to deal-making in the digital health sector, there’s a number of issues investors weigh when considering working with emerging companies.

    Investors don’t necessarily need companies to provide proof points from a clinical trial before investing, but they do want to see a very clear roadmap for how the company plans to achieve its goals. In the case of digital therapeutic development, for instance, investors will want to know statistics for different arms of a study, trial costs, how subjects will be recruited, enrollment rates, data evaluation techniques, and the specific regulatory (e.g., U.S. Food and Drug Administration or not) and reimbursement (e.g., private pay, insurance, or Medicare/Medicaid coverage) pathways. It comes down to this: What is the company’s specific plan, does it seem achievable, and does management have a track record?

    The buy side also wants to see clarity around how a company defines itself. Among digital health companies, many of which are startups, there can be fuzziness around whether they’re trying to be a technology company, a data company, a consumer company, or a healthcare company—and often they’re a little bit of each. This can be worrisome to investors who want to understand a company’s value proposition clearly so they can think through how to position the company to the market, who the right investors are, and who the right research analysts are for presenting the company’s long-term thesis properly.

    Clarity of purpose is easy to build at a company’s outset, but hard to fix later on.

    The Consumerization of Healthcare Isn’t Going Anywhere
    The healthcare industry has traditionally been slow to adopt technology, but the past year has hammered home that it’s incumbent upon companies to embrace digital solutions, innovate, and integrate them into some components of the current healthcare system. For years, there have been whispers that individuals are going to want healthcare delivery to be as convenient, easy-to-access, and tech-enabled as other commonplace consumer services.

    After the digital acceleration of the past year, that expectation is now firmly entrenched. Consumers aren’t going back to heavily manual and in-person processes, so neither can companies. It’s important for developers and investors alike to maintain a long-term vision to continue modernizing care through digital tools, to understand the current patchwork and idiosyncratic health system, and to navigate through it while taking into account the various regulatory, financial, and operational factors. 


    Stephen W. Bernstein is a partner at McDermott Will & Emery. He specializes in e-health, data engineering and deployment of digital health tools, as well as private equity investments, mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, and joint ventures. Bernstein is co-chair of the firm’s Life Sciences Practice and co-leads the company’s Digital Health Practice. He is a current member of McDermott Will & Emery’s Management Committee and has served on the firm’s Compensation, Executive and Finance Committees.
    Related Searches
    • Digital Health
    Related Knowledge Center
    • Digital Health
      Loading, Please Wait..

      Trending
      • Study: Catheter Ablation Significantly Lowers Dementia Risk In AFib Patients
      • Abbott's Proclaim XR SCS OK'ed For Diabetic Neuropathy
      • BMP Medical Expands Sterling, Massachusetts Facility
      • Tandem Diabetes Completes Deal For AMF Medical
      • The Future Of Biomedical Engineering Advancements
      Breaking News
      • BMP Medical Expands Sterling, Massachusetts Facility
      • Abbott's Proclaim XR SCS OK'ed for Diabetic Neuropathy
      • Environmental Sustainability Becoming Increasingly Important to Medtech Industry
      • Duane DiFranco Joins Harvard MedTech’s Medical Advisory Board
      • Lionel Bonte Named President of Mativ’s Healthcare and Wellness Business Unit
      View Breaking News >
      CURRENT ISSUE

      November 2022

      • MPO's 2022 Year in Review
      • Fine Print: A Discourse on Additive Manufacturing
      • Grab and Go: Examining the Thrombectomy Device Market
      • View More >

      Cookies help us to provide you with an excellent service. By using our website, you declare yourself in agreement with our use of cookies.
      You can obtain detailed information about the use of cookies on our website by clicking on "More information”.

      • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms And Conditions
      • Contact Us

      follow us

      Subscribe
      Nutraceuticals World

      Latest Breaking News From Nutraceuticals World

      Probiotics Supplementation Reduces Complications in Colorectal Cancer Patients
      Vitamin D Supplementation Reduces Risk of Dynapenia
      Sustained-Release Caffeine Ingredient Offers Mood, Performance Benefits
      Coatings World

      Latest Breaking News From Coatings World

      Epoxytec Announces New Website Launch
      Paints and Coatings Market Worth $212B by 2026: MarketsandMarkets
      Axalta Releases Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results
      Medical Product Outsourcing

      Latest Breaking News From Medical Product Outsourcing

      BMP Medical Expands Sterling, Massachusetts Facility
      Abbott's Proclaim XR SCS OK'ed for Diabetic Neuropathy
      Environmental Sustainability Becoming Increasingly Important to Medtech Industry
      Contract Pharma

      Latest Breaking News From Contract Pharma

      Pasithea Signs CMC Development and Manufacturing Agreement
      Experic Expands Analytical Capabilities and Facilities
      List Labs Expands Manufacturing Capacity
      Beauty Packaging

      Latest Breaking News From Beauty Packaging

      Haircare Brand Uncle Funky’s Daughter Announces Retail Expansion
      TRESemmé Introduces New Pro Infusion Collection
      Walgreens Boots Alliance Shares 2022 ESG Report
      Happi

      Latest Breaking News From Happi

      KimChi Beauty Launches Spinning Hearts Love 02 Ahead of Valentine’s Day
      Dark & Lovely Names Actress Meagan Good Brand Ambassador
      Natural Household Care Company Tru Earth Adds Dishwasher Detergent Tablets
      Ink World

      Latest Breaking News From Ink World

      Xerox Releases 4Q, Full-Year 2022 Results
      Electronics For Imaging Names Frank Pennisi as CEO
      Fiery to Separate from EFI, Remain Wholly-Owned by Siris
      Label & Narrow Web

      Latest Breaking News From Label & Narrow Web

      EFI appoints Frank Pennisi CEO, Fiery now an independent business
      Bobst boosts senior sales team with Keith Nagle
      Penmar Industries adds Screen Truepress Jet L350UV SAI digital press
      Nonwovens Industry

      Latest Breaking News From Nonwovens Industry

      Essity’s Sales Grow
      Thinx to Pay up to $5 million to Settle Class Action Suit
      Typar Highlighting New Building Innovations
      Orthopedic Design & Technology

      Latest Breaking News From Orthopedic Design & Technology

      Orthofix Launches the Mariner Deformity System
      Tyber Medical Hires 2 New Execs
      Miach Ortho Raises $40M in Series B Funding
      Printed Electronics Now

      Latest Breaking News From Printed Electronics Now

      Smart Devices with Privacy Focus Have More Consumer Appeal
      Siman Group Partners with SML to Unlock Full Retail Potential with RFID
      Brewer Science Presents Optics Integration Solutions at SPIE Photonics West

      Copyright © 2023 Rodman Media. All rights reserved. Use of this constitutes acceptance of our privacy policy The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Rodman Media.

      AD BLOCKER DETECTED

      Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
      Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.


      FREE SUBSCRIPTION Already a subscriber? Login