Issue # 110 – Oura and Dexcom Launch First-Ever Two-Way Data Integration

Wearables have become as ubiquitous as smartphones, offering options to fit every lifestyle and budget. Wearables are no longer just tools for tech geeks or professionals; they’re becoming an integral part of our lifestyle. 

The next frontier? Metabolic health management.

One standout example is the recent partnership between Oura and Dexcom. Oura, makers of the popular Oura Ring, just secured $75 million in Series D funding from Dexcom, valuing the company at over $5 billion. For the first time, we’re seeing a two-way data flow between Dexcom’s glucose biosensors and the Oura Ring ecosystem.

The partnership enables a seamless two-way data flow, integrating insights from both devices into their respective apps. This creates a unique metabolic health experience for users, setting new standards in wearable technology.

With joint marketing efforts, both Oura and Dexcom aim to reach millions of people looking to take control of their metabolic health, showcasing how wearables are becoming indispensable tools for wellness.

It’s clear: The era of wearables is  evolving, And with collaborations like Oura and Dexcom leading the way, the future of wearables is looking more personal—and powerful—than ever.

Hempstreet has been featured in the 2024 Forbes and D.Globalist Select 200 list. They have been recognized for their trailblazing efforts in their recently concluded global first clinical trial for a microdosed cannabis based polyherbal solution for dysmenorrhea. Hempstreet is the only medical cannabis company to be included in the list, which highlights organizations with the potential to take global leadership in their respective fields.

• Theranautilus, a deep-tech company developing nanorobotic solutions for healthcare, has raised $1.2 million in seed funding. The round led by pi Ventures also saw participation from Golden Sparrow Ventures and angel investors including Abhishek Goyal, Founder and CEO of Tracxn, and Lalit Keshre, CEO of Groww. . 
• MuscleBlaze parent HealthKart, a consumer nutrition platform secured $153M in funding, unveils Rs 55 Cr ESOP buyback This investment round follows a milestone fiscal year where the company achieved over Rs 1,000 crore in revenue and reached full-year EBITDA profitability, the company said.

• Freya Biosciences has received a $10.4 million strategic investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with $1.4 million additional financing from current investor Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO).
• Persperity Health, a new company spun out of The California Institute of Technology, has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate the development of its sweat-sensing technology that provides real-time, non-invasive hormonal insights.
• Frazier Healthcare Partners, a Seattle, WA-based dedicated healthcare private equity firm, announced the close of its latest flagship fund, Frazier Healthcare Growth Buyout Fund XI, L.P. (FHGB XI).
• Heim Health, a London, UK-based provider of a software platform empowering at-home healthcare, raised £2.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Heal Capital and joined by Form Ventures, Portfolio Ventures and Houghton Street Ventures. 
• Cytomos, an Edinburgh, Scotland, UK-based biotechnology company, raised £5M in funding.
• SRTD biotech, a Jülich, Germany-based biotech startup, raised an undisclosed amount in Seed funding. The round was led by High-Tech Gründerfonds alongside undisclosed business angels.The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the development of novel RNA therapeutics.
• mediaire, a Berlin, Germany-based company developing AI-powered diagnostic solutions for MRI imaging, raised €12M in funding. The round was led by LBO France with participation from IBB Ventures, the Swiss family office Wille Finance, HTGF, LIFTT, and Gateway Ventures.

• A wearable patch the size of a postage stamp that can monitor blood pressure continuously could soon help people manage their hypertension. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, who developed the wearable ultrasound patch report Nov. 20 in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering that it has worked well in tests with more than 100 patients.
• A new study has revealed that the number and type of microbes present in the saliva of pregnant women differ according to whether they are experiencing life stress and symptoms of anxiety, Experts have been concerned by rising rates of pancreatic cancer in young adults, but new research reveals the jump in cases has not been accompanied by any increase in deaths from the disease.depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• An alarming 10 to 15 per cent of all breast cancer incidents are categorised as triple-negative breast cancer—one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer. A newly developed neoantigen DNA vaccine may be able to help patients fight the recurrences of such cancer, according to a recently concluded study.
• Rates of postpartum depression have more than doubled in little over a decade among American women, a new analysis shows.While about 1 in every 10 new moms (9.4%) suffered postpartum depression in 2010, that number rose to almost 1 in every 5 (19%) by 2021, report a team from Kaiser Permanente Southern California.
• A type 2 diabetes diagnosis before age 50 comes with a health risk that patients might not expect.Especially if they are obese, these folks are more likely to develop dementia later, new research warns.
• Improper arm position can distort blood pressure readings. Researchers examined 133 adults from ages 18 to 80, and found that supporting the arm on the lap or leaving it hanging on the side without any support, while taking blood pressure, can overestimate the systolic blood pressure readings
• A recent study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society suggests that vitamin D supplements can help reduce blood pressure in older adults with obesity. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other organisations, found that taking more than the recommended daily dose of vitamin D provides no additional health benefits.
• Around 30 per cent of the 445 million people with untreated diabetes in 2022 were in India, according to a new Lancet report. India’s count was 133 million, at least 50 per cent higher than that of China—the next largest population of people with untreated diabetes at 78 million for the year. The report revealed that 445 million adults aged 30 or older with diabetes have not been treated with oral hypoglycemic drugs or insulin, with the 2022 number being 3.5 times the 129 million cases reported in 1990.
• A drug used to help patients lose weight and manage diabetes may also help those with heart failure, an international clinical trial shows. The test of tirzepatide, brand named Zepbound, included 731 patients with diastolic heart failure and obesity who were followed for two years.
• After a hit to the head or a fall, people, especially seniors, can develop a dangerous pooling of blood and fluid between the brain’s surface and it’s protective covering, the dura. These “subdural hematomas” typically require surgery to fix, but a new study suggests a better approach, one that makes sure repeat surgeries aren’t required.
• Having achy, painful joints isn’t just a physical woe: Coupled with depression, it could also degrade an older person’s brain function over time. That’s the conclusion of a study of almost 5,000 older Britons tracked for 12 years. People who had both chronic joint pain and depression tended to perform worse on cognitive tests, especially tests focused on memory skills.
• Bacteria that cause gum disease can also increase a person’s risk of head and neck squamous cell cancer, according to a US study published in the journal JAMA Oncology. Researchers analysed data from three ongoing studies that tracked 1,59,840 adults to see how diet, lifestyle, medical history and other factors affect cancer risk.

• Alife Health, a technology company building AI tools to advance in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in the US, is partnering with US Fertility to pilot Alife’s Embryo Assist software to enrich embryo cataloguing.
• Verge Genomics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and human data to transform drug discovery and development, announced that Eli Lilly & Company (Lilly) has opted to pursue the development of therapeutics against two validated drug targets for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as part of the companies’ collaboration.
• Abbott announced that, in the third year of its multi-million-dollar Diversity in Clinical Trials initiative, the company has published ‘Advancing Diversity in Clinical Trials’ to share strategies to make clinical research and the teams leading these trials more diverse across the US.
• Samsung Biologics, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced a series of manufacturing deals with a Europe-based pharmaceutical company.
• argenx SE, a global immunology company committed to improving the lives of people suffering from severe autoimmune diseases, announced the decision to continue development of efgartigimod subcutaneous (SC) (efgartigimod alfa and hyaluronidase-qvfc) in the ongoing phase 2/3 ALKIVIA study in adults with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM or myositis).
• Abbott, a global healthcare company, has announced the launch of AVEIR VR single-chamber ventricular leadless pacemaker for the treatment of patients in India with slow heart rhythms

• The Union Ayush Ministry’s collaborations with leading institutions like Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will strengthen the scientific foundations of Ayush therapies and promote their acceptance worldwide.
• The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has rejected a review application of Abbott Healthcare filed against National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on fixation of ceiling price for modified release tablets of high blood pressure drug metoprolol.
• The Karnataka government is channeling its efforts to spur its information technology and biotechnology (IT-BT) efforts to harness regional strengths of its workforce and infrastructure. It will be setting up three dedicated global innovation districts in Bengaluru, Mysuru and Belagavi. These will house Global Capability Centres (GCCs) to spur its IT-BT initiatives.

📳 – Quick Reads: 

• Getting Fitter Can Really Help Keep Dementia at Bay: People whose genes put them at high risk for dementia may be able to fight Mother Nature and win, new research out of Sweden suggests.
• How Ayurveda can help treat and manage Type 2 diabetes: The AYUSH ministry aims to combine traditional and modern medicine in order to make treatments more effective and improve patient outcomes
• Study claims potential links between pesticides use and prostate cancer: Researchers have identified 22 pesticides consistently associated with the incidence of prostate cancer in the US, with four of them also linked to prostate cancer mortality.

See you next Friday, friends 👋
Navneet

[Sign up here to never miss on the latest updates.]