Portfolio News

U.S. Sees Dramatic Drop in Routine Testing Amid Pandemic

A new report from Komodo Health shows that diagnostic testing for cancer and other conditions has declined across the U.S. since mid-March following regional lockdowns for the COVID-19 pandemic. Komodo Health analyzed billing records of 320 million patients from March 19 through April 20 and found that cervical cancer screenings have dropped by 68 percent, cholesterol tests have fallen by 67 percent, and diabetes detection testing was down 65 percent nationally. The greatest reductions happened in areas that have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic. A1c tests,...

GRAIL to Participate in BofA Securities 2020 Health Care Conference

GRAIL has announced that two of its executives will be speaking at the BofA Securities 2020 Health Care Conference. Hans Bishop, Chief Executive Officer; and Joshua Ofman, MD, MSHS, Chief Medical Officer and External Affairs, will provide an overview of the company at the virtual conference, which will take place Wednesday, May 13, 2020, at 5 p.m. ET. GRAIL is coming off a very good year. In March, the company announced that validation data for its multi-cancer early detection test were published in Annals of Oncology. The...

Vivante Health Joins Accolade Trusted Supplier Program

Vivante Health, a provider of digital medicine tools for digestive health and disease, has joined the Accolade Partner Ecosystem as part of the company’s Trusted Supplier Program. GIThrive is Vivante’s digital gut health platform. Using proprietary algorithms and data from each user’s symptom and food log, GIThrive aims to anticipate GI symptom flares before they strike, helping users avoid possible triggers and high-cost medical interventions. GIThrive members have direct access to a registered dietitian for personal nutrition support. The program includes therapies proven to reduce inflammation...

COVID-19: The Critical Role of Real-World Evidence Made Real

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HLTH Matters Blog Series will be interviewing experts from across the health ecosystem to bring timely facts and updates to the HLTH community. A post written by Aetion CEO Carolyn Magill details the role of real-world evidence in the fight against coronavirus. “I’m certain that it’s critical we look to real-world data (RWD), right now, for answers,” Magill wrote. Real-world data represent our daily lives as captured by sources like health insurance claims, electronic health records, labs, and wearable devices....

Cancer screenings plunge more than 90% due to COVID-19

Electronic health record software provider Epic released data indicating that appointments for cervix, colon, and breast cancer screenings have dropped between 86 percent and 94 percent compared to average volumes in the three years before the confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in the U.S. At the end of April, Komodo Health released the results of a study assessing records from 320 million U.S. patients, and the results are in alignment with those of Epic, even if the decline isn’t as steep according to Komodo’s assessment,...