Insights
Notes on scaling AI in healthcare and TechBio.
Field notes by Christian Hein on how AI moves from announcements and pilots into workflows, operating models, and investment decisions in regulated healthcare.
Selected essays
- 01Three things I watch when reading any pharma AI announcement in 2026Capital depth, role mix, and integration target. Three signals that separate a real pharma AI capability build from a press-release pilot dressed up as a strategic partnership.
- 02Lab-in-the-loop drug discovery is an operating model problem, not a model problemLab-in-the-loop gets talked about like it’s a model problem. The Roche/Novartis/Microsoft panel at health.tech | global summit Basel made the real point clearer: it’s an operating model problem. Most orgs are at Level 1–2 maturity, and that’s already useful — the first big value isn’t more hits, it’s faster, more confident kill decisions.
- 03Europe’s pharma AI risk: value capture matters more than headcountEurope keeps asking “will AI in pharma R&D mean fewer jobs?” That’s the wrong question. The right one is who captures the value. Adoption is real but structurally slow. TechBio reshapes the pipeline economy. Data hunger grows. The real risk: while Europe debates headcount, the platforms and IP get built elsewhere.
174 posts
Building a new path to make medicines with AI
Isomorphic Labs said "Our hypothesis has been proven" in its September 29 update. I still have questions about its business model, and I want evidence of repeat customers or named clinical candidates.
Roche outlines plans to move towards autonomous AI labs
Roche has started building autonomous AI labs, Genentech research head Aviv Regev told investors on Monday. I think the lab will turn out to be the easier part, because the decision clock is where I think most of the speed gets lost.
Why Anthropic Is Opening a Wet Lab: Claude as the Intelligence Layer of R&D
Anthropic has set up a biology wet lab in the Bay Area, two days after Novo Nordisk signed up to test Claude Science. The lab tightens the loop between model and experiment, and it points to Anthropic selling Claude as the intelligence layer for pharma R&D.
ByteDance spins out Anew Labs: when AI companies start owning drug assets
ByteDance spun out its AI drug discovery unit as Anew Labs, keeping 56% of a $1.5bn company with its own preclinical pipeline. The structure shows how far large AI companies now go into drug development, and why they separate it from the core business.
Partnering with Pharma R&D: From Pilot to Adoption
Lessons from the DayOne 2026 cohort session in Basel on decision-making, evidence of value and the work needed to make pharma R&D partnerships succeed.
What Anthropic Could Buy in Life Sciences, and Why
Anthropic paid a reported $400m in stock for Coefficient Bio and is now hiring someone to do acquisitions, investments and partnerships in life sciences. I don't think that appetite for owning assets survives an IPO.
Why Epic will not be dislodged: what the OpenAI and Claudeforce deals share
OpenAI connected ChatGPT to Epic's records for over 325 million patients on a read-only basis, mirroring the structure of the Claudeforce deal between Salesforce and Anthropic. I conclude Epic will not be dislodged as long as it keeps the model layer interchangeable.
Sword Health to acquire Headspace in an all-cash deal
Sword Health is acquiring Headspace for a reported $200 million to $300 million, roughly 90 percent below its $3 billion 2021 valuation. I see this consolidation as the start of digital health's mature days.
Lindus Health and the Structural Problem With the Neo-CRO Model
Lindus Health sold its CRO business on August 18 and became a drug developer. I think the move exposes a structural problem in the neo-CRO model: the sponsor captures most of the upside from a faster trial.
GenAI in Regulated Healthcare: The FDA and EMA Draw the Rules
I look at how the FDA and EMA are separately shaping rules for generative AI in regulated healthcare, from device evaluation to manufacturing. Both are converging on judging these systems by demonstrated performance for a defined use, which I think gives newer models a credible path into regulated settings.
Claude’s Protein Binder Experiment Points to a New R&D Operating Model
Claude designed wet-lab-confirmed protein binders against 14 of 15 targets in a 48-hour campaign. I see this as a glimpse of Anthropic becoming the intelligence layer of drug discovery, coordinating models, compute and labs rather than carrying molecules itself.
Why Dario Amodei’s Disease Cure Timeline Is Too Optimistic
Dario Amodei posted on X that AI could cure most human disease in 5 to 10 years, dropping the conditional framing from his own 2024 essay. I think that timeline is too optimistic, and I doubt Anthropic will become a pharma company.
What BMS and Schrödinger Reveal About Pricing Agentic AI
Bristol Myers Squibb signed a deal on August 5 to deploy Schrödinger's agentic AI co-scientist Bunsen, which entered early access on July 27, across its research organization. I think consumption pricing will become the default model for agentic software in pharma R&D within two years, since Schrödinger's compute-metered approach got there first.
ICON just wired Anthropic's Claude into its clinical trial platform
ICON plc has wired Anthropic's Claude into its Orbis platform, running trials for roughly 40,200 people across 55 countries. I argue this confirms my April prediction that CROs combining frontier AI with execution get more valuable.
Salesforce just signed a contract worth up to $1.6 billion with the US Department of Veterans Affairs
Salesforce signed a contract worth up to $1.6 billion with the US Department of Veterans Affairs for agents that answer calls and schedule appointments. I read this as agentic AI in healthcare moving into the operating layer of America's largest integrated health system, starting with intake, routing, verification, and scheduling.
Eli Lilly just took an equity stake in Oura
Eli Lilly took an equity stake in Oura this month, following GLP-1 Insights in May and free sizing kits in June. I think this shows Lilly betting that adherence and retention around GLP-1 drugs matter as much as efficacy, even without access to Oura's user data.
Why Tempus paid $1.5bn for Personalis: the data follows the patient
Tempus AI is paying $1.5 billion for Personalis, which runs about ten thousand MRD tests versus Natera's roughly 250,000. My read is that Tempus is buying the shape of the data, a record that follows the same patient over time.
The Pharma Compute Race: Three NVIDIA Deals in Nine Months
BMS just claimed the most powerful AI supercomputer in life sciences, the third pharma company to do so in nine months after Lilly and Roche. I read the superlative as marketing and the demand curve behind it as the signal.
$3.8bn valuation, well done, Chai Discovery
Chai Discovery raised $400 million at a $3.8 billion valuation, a day after Novartis expanded its partnership, with Lilly and Pfizer already customers. I think its refusal to build its own drug pipeline, unlike Anthropic's Claude Science, is exactly why pharma trusts it with their data.
Two hits, two partials, one miss
I'm marking my own homework on the five AI predictions I made for 2026: two hits, two partials, and one still too early to call at the halfway point.
AI Memory Will Become the Real Enterprise Platform Lock-In
In enterprise AI, switching models will soon be trivial — but leaving the platform that holds your organization's memory will be a board-level decision. I argue that the most important question in any AI evaluation isn't about benchmarks: it's about where the memory lives.
UpDoc’s 510(k) cleared “concierge doctor” leaves a liability hole
UpDoc says it has the first FDA clearance for a patient-facing clinical LLM, reached through the 510(k) pathway. I argue the device framework was never built for a model making medication calls, and liability when it is wrong has not been tested.
Claude Science looks like dogfooding for neglected-disease pipelines
Anthropic launched Claude Science on June 30, targeting neglected diseases, and I read it as deliberate dogfooding — the same path Claude Code took from internal tool to product. The real bet is that value in AI-bio accrues at the workflow and orchestration layer, not at the model weights.
Jumper to Anthropic: watch the life-science hires, not the board reshuffle
John Jumper, the Nobel laureate behind AlphaFold, is leaving Google DeepMind for Anthropic — and when I read that move next to Anthropic's recent acquisitions, partnerships, and research hires, it's the direct research talent, not the board appointments, that will shape where this company lands in life sciences.
Sanofi & Pangaea to use AI for finding rare lung disease patients
Sanofi and Pangaea Data's AATD collaboration shows where pharma AI may create near-term value: finding undiagnosed patients already visible in clinical records. In rare disease, patient identification can create patient value and market expansion at the same time.
Pharma asked what frontier AI can build. Novo learned what it can take.
Roughly 11,500 Novo Nordisk clinical-trial patient records are allegedly on a leak site, next to the recipe for Ozempic — and the breadth of what was taken is the real story. I argue that the same frontier AI pharma has spent two years asking what it can build is now sharpening the tools that make a terabyte of stolen files instantly usable.
The Money Is Moving to the Layer Beneath the Molecule
This week, Merck signed a $510M AI collaboration and PE firm Altaris took Simulations Plus private for ~$375M — both bets on the infrastructure layer beneath the molecule. I think the durable value in drug discovery keeps pooling one level down: whoever owns the data generation and simulation tooling owns the part that compounds.
When a $12B Clinical AI Ties Google's Free Answer Box
A Nature Medicine study found OpenEvidence, a clinical AI now valued at $12 billion, scored no better than free Google Search on blinded real-world physician queries, while general frontier models led. The sharper lesson for anyone buying clinical AI: which benchmark you trust decides the winner you see.
Everyone Will Be a Builder: What Separates AI Leaders From the 9% in Pharma
Deloitte's 2026 Life Sciences Outlook finds only 9% of life sciences companies see measurable business impact from AI. The companies pulling away invest in the unglamorous layer underneath: ontologies, metadata, semantics, and agent infrastructure that lets anyone build.
Claude Just Matched 40 Years of Chemistry Software
Anthropic benchmarked Claude Opus 4.7 against ChemDraw and MestReNova on NMR prediction and structure elucidation, and the general model matched the specialist tools. The read for techbio: encoded domain knowledge is becoming a default capability of general models.
Building my AI operating system changed how I advise healthcare teams
I run my AI advisory work on a private operating system I built myself — and actually using one of these "second brain" systems has taught me that stored volume matters far less than timing. The real step change isn't buying a generic tool; it's building a system around how you actually think and work.
A Wall of AI at ASCO - but is it working?
At ASCO this week, AI dominated the oncology agenda — but a Penn abstract pointed at a critical blind spot: the AI information cancer patients actually find online is low quality, hard to read, and silent on risks. The model can be clinically right and still fail at the bedside.
Do not get out of bed for an AI project worth less than $100 million.
At the AI in Clinical Development Summit we hosted in New York, one line defined the room: don't get out of bed for an AI project worth less than $100 million. I walked away with four ideas about where pharma's AI transformation is actually landing — and a conviction that regulatory submissions are heading toward agent-to-agent transactions built on machine-native data standards.
Major progress on AI scientists this week in Nature
Nature published three AI scientist systems on the same day this week — FutureHouse's Robin, Google's Co-Scientist, and ERA — and the detail that matters for pharma is what they run on. Peer review commoditised the reasoning; the real edge still sits in proprietary data and lab throughput that these systems cannot reach.
The rise of agentic in drug R&D - Owkin & AZ
AstraZeneca's licensing of Owkin's K Pro platform signals where agentic AI is actually landing in pharma right now — competitive intelligence — not the broader scientific autonomy the positioning implies. I break down which workflows are realistic today and why the teams that start with unglamorous, high-leverage tasks will be best positioned when the harder problems become tractable.
Where Healthcare Capital is Actually Moving in 2026
I spoke at the Global Health Exhibition Capital Xchange webinar opened by the Saudi Ministry of Health, and the headline story in healthcare venture this year is concentration — less capital, larger checks, AI dominating in techbio and clinical workflows, and a Saudi market that is shifting from consumer to producer economy.
Isomorphic about to raise $2bn - and why I'm not sure that's a good thing
Isomorphic Labs is in advanced talks to raise more than $2B, and I'm of two minds about it. The capital is welcome, but the deeper question is whether tech boards will stay patient through a decade of clinical iteration — and whether anyone is funding the downstream bottleneck that more AI-generated candidates will only tighten.
Most AI-first techbios are modeling clinical costs that are roughly half of what they will actually face.
Most AI-first techbios are modeling clinical costs that are roughly half of what they will actually face — and the capital required to put an AI-derived molecule in front of a patient has roughly doubled within the lifespan of one mRNA company. Discovery cost reductions are real and welcome, but the binding constraint sits elsewhere.
Three things I watch when reading any pharma AI announcement in 2026
Capital depth, role mix, and integration target. Three signals that separate a real pharma AI capability build from a press-release pilot dressed up as a strategic partnership.
FDA real-time clinical trials: the new regulatory data infrastructure layer
The FDA's first real-time clinical trials don't just promise faster reviews — they insert a new infrastructure layer between sponsors and the agency. I break down what that architectural shift means for clinical development.
OpenEvidence exits Europe: what AI Act uncertainty means for clinical AI
OpenEvidence has withdrawn from the EU and UK citing regulatory uncertainty around the EU AI Act, making the geography of clinical AI access officially American. I break down what this means for US and European pharma, and why the AI Act's first observable market effect may be pushing physicians toward less-grounded AI alternatives.
OpenAI in pharma: Novo Nordisk, GPT-Rosalind, and the life sciences platform play
Last week, OpenAI made two moves in pharma within 48 hours — a flagship enterprise deal with Novo Nordisk and the launch of GPT-Rosalind — and the sequencing tells a deliberate story about how they're building a verticalised commercial infrastructure for life sciences. Having sat on the pharma buyer side, I break down what that cadence actually accomplishes.
Hyperscalers in AI drug discovery: why Anthropic and AWS are moving into techbio
The hyperscalers are moving on drug discovery from every direction — Anthropic acquired Coefficient Bio, and AWS just launched Amazon Bio Discovery with 40+ biological foundation models and integrated CRO partners. I still don't think the commercial model of pharma is under major threat, but the R&D part is clearly heating up massively.
Rock Health has retired 'AI' as a separate funding category
Rock Health quietly retired the AI deal category in their Q1 2026 digital health report. The reason: the distinction between AI-enabled and non-AI digital health no longer holds. AI is table stakes. The companies pulling in nine-figure checks share something else — workflow integration depth.
Anthropic buys Coefficient Bio: why the scientific decision layer matters
Most coverage frames the Coefficient Bio acquisition as a valuation story: $44M per head, a 38,000% return, eight months old, no product, no revenue. All true. All missing the point. Anthropic bought the scientific decision layer.
Boehringer Ingelheim’s London AI center: pharma capability hubs are replacing pilots
Boehringer Ingelheim's new AI and machine learning center in London signals something more specific than another pharma AI announcement — pharma is starting to build permanent capability hubs, not just buy software deals. My bet is that by 2028, the companies with serious in-house computational capability will look structurally different from the ones that outsourced both talent and hardware.
AI and CRO disruption: why IQVIA, Medpace, and Charles River may become more valuable
CRO stocks dropped sharply on AI fears: IQVIA, Medpace, Charles River. The market may be right that AI changes trial economics. It’s wrong about where the disruption lands. CROs are infrastructure companies, and AI should make them more valuable, not less — if they can break free from the cost-plus model.
Eli Lilly and Insilico Medicine: what three AI drug discovery deals signal
Eli Lilly’s third Insilico deal in three years: $115M upfront, up to $2.75B in milestones, plus royalties. The progression from software licensing in 2023 to a $2.75B commitment in 2026 tells the real story. The signal for the rest of the AI drug discovery space is harder to read — deals like this concentrate pharma attention on proven platforms.
Earendil Labs just raised $787M for AI-driven biologics. The largest AI biotech round of 2026 so far.
A company you’ve most likely never heard of just raised $787M for AI-driven biologics. The headline number is striking. Sanofi’s trajectory — partner to repeat customer to investor in under twelve months — tells you more about the platform than any press release. The Delaware-incorporated, Beijing-operating structure is the emerging architecture for Chinese AI biotech going global.
Verily just raised $300M and, more importantly, ended Alphabet’s controlling stake.
Verily raised $300M, ended Alphabet’s controlling stake, and changed its legal name to Verily Health Inc. The capital matters. The structural change matters more. In healthcare, ownership structure is part of the product. As a personal anecdote, I stopped using my Fitbit the moment Google took over.
Microsoft Copilot Health: why launch architecture is not execution
Five days separated Microsoft’s Copilot Health launch from Satya Nadella restructuring Copilot leadership. The official story is coherence and strategic focus. The architecture is compelling. But architecture isn’t execution. The real question is whether Microsoft can actually ship it.
Roche’s hybrid-cloud AI factory: why adoption matters more than GPUs
Roche just announced pharma's largest hybrid-cloud AI factory, combining 2,176 new NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs with an existing footprint that now exceeds 3,500 across the U.S. and Europe. But after years of watching these waves from inside pharma, the pattern is clear: the announcement is the easy part — the hard part is getting a large organization to actually change how it works.
AI drug discovery benchmarks: why pharma needs model evaluation discipline
Three big AI drug discovery launches in 90 days: Boltz, IsoDDE, OpenFold3. Every benchmark was built by the team that built the model. The real question isn’t which model has the best benchmark. It’s whether discovery teams have a rigorous internal framework to evaluate any model that shows up. The real moat is evaluation discipline.
FDA GenAI clinical care regulation: why Breakthrough Device Designation matters
The FDA quietly granted Breakthrough Device Designation to a generative AI chatbot — not a diagnostic, not a scoring tool. An LLM that talks to post-surgical patients twice daily and escalates red flags. No GenAI device has ever received FDA authorization. This becomes the test case.
Lab-in-the-loop drug discovery is an operating model problem, not a model problem
Lab-in-the-loop gets talked about like it’s a model problem. The Roche/Novartis/Microsoft panel at health.tech | global summit Basel made the real point clearer: it’s an operating model problem. Most orgs are at Level 1–2 maturity, and that’s already useful — the first big value isn’t more hits, it’s faster, more confident kill decisions.
Clarivate LS&H sale: what GenAI means for pharma intelligence businesses
Clarivate is selling its LS&H division — $390M in revenue, down 7% YoY, stock at $1.69. Decision Resources and Cortellis defined pharma intelligence for decades. GenAI-native platforms are now structuring, querying, and synthesizing across the same data at a fraction of the cost. When organized access to information is your moat, and AI organizes information better than you, that’s not a strategy problem. That’s an existential one.
Europe’s pharma AI risk: value capture matters more than headcount
Europe keeps asking “will AI in pharma R&D mean fewer jobs?” That’s the wrong question. The right one is who captures the value. Adoption is real but structurally slow. TechBio reshapes the pipeline economy. Data hunger grows. The real risk: while Europe debates headcount, the platforms and IP get built elsewhere.
$1.7B for Takeda x Iambic last week. Now Merck skips techbio entirely and goes to Mayo Clinic.
Two pharma-AI deals in two weeks, two completely different architectures. Takeda paid $1.7B for Iambic. Now Merck skips techbio entirely and runs its AI models inside Mayo Clinic’s secure data environment. The architecture behind the Merck deal is what matters.
Clinical LLM benchmarks: why SNOMED CT mapping is a real-world test
The AI-in-healthcare debate keeps swinging between “AI is going to take over everything” and “AI is useless in a medical setting.” Neither is useful. What the field actually needs are external neutral benchmarks on specific clinical tasks. Congrats to Rory Davidson and team for bringing one to market.
Big Pharma AI deals: why binding intelligence matters more than “AI”
Barely a month goes by without another billion-dollar AI discovery deal. But Takeda’s deal with Iambic isn’t about buying AI — it’s about acquiring binding intelligence. If it works, portfolio strategy shifts from option value through volume to option value through precision. The hard part is industrializing it.
Capital gets you started. Capability keeps you going.
The Gulf has three things most emerging life sciences ecosystems lack: sovereign capital, speed of decision making, and political will. What it still needs is the operational layer that turns investment into outcomes — and an investor base that understands the life sciences risk profile.
$150M Series A. $850M pre-money. 100% return in 12 months.
Hologen, Eric Schmidt’s stealth biotech-AI venture, is raising $150M at an $850M pre-money on a promise of 100% returns in 12 months. The pitch is closer to financial underwriting than AI product development. Here’s what would convince me it’s more than narrative.
$1B over five years. NVIDIA + Eli Lilly and Company.
NVIDIA and Eli Lilly are putting $1B into a co-located Bay Area lab where Lilly scientists and NVIDIA engineers build drug discovery models side by side. Not a typical AI partnership. The real story is closed-loop discovery, and the moat is the loop, not the model.
I just peer reviewed a paper on healthcare AI, and I wasn’t allowed to use AI.
I just completed my first peer review — on a healthcare AI paper — under journal rules that explicitly forbid AI assistance. Peer review is slow, strained, and imperfect. And it now actively forbids the tools that could make it better. Will this model survive the next decade?
I haven’t written code in more than 25 years.
I taught myself to code as a teenager, then spent 25 years away from it. This week I tried Claude Cowork — agentic AI for non-coders — and shipped a working Chrome extension over lunch.
The heat is on. Everyone is framing this as ChatGPT vs Claude in healthcare.
Everyone is framing the new healthcare AI launches as ChatGPT vs Claude. That’s the wrong comparison. The real story is consumer memory vs reimbursement workflows — two completely different bets on where AI lock-in actually gets built.
The rumors were true: OpenAI just launched ChatGPT Health (waitlisted).
OpenAI just launched ChatGPT Health (waitlisted). I can’t access it from Europe yet, but I’ve been using ChatGPT for surprisingly complex Swiss health insurance reimbursement scenarios. The personal health AI category is emerging in real-time, and OpenAI may have a real shot where Apple has tried for years.
Insilico Medicine ended 2025 with a bang on HKEX, then kicked off 2026 with exactly the kind of n...
Insilico Medicine closed 2025 with a ~US$293M HKEX IPO and opened 2026 with an $888M oncology collaboration with Servier — two major pharma deals in two months that suggest repeatable demand for their AI drug discovery platform.
Happy New Year! My 5 bets for AI in Healthcare + TechBio in 2026
I'm sharing my 5 bets for AI in Healthcare and TechBio in 2026 — from ambient scribes becoming table stakes to a TechBio Series B shakeout accelerating. If one of these is wrong, I want to know which one and what would change your mind.
OpenAI is among the backers of a biotech founded in 2024 that is already valued at $1.3B.
OpenAI is among the backers of Chai Discovery, a biotech founded in 2024 already valued at $1.3B — and I think the real question isn't whether their antibody design model works, but whether model-layer innovation becomes infrastructure or a durable moat.
My former colleagues at Novartis just signed a $1.7B deal with a seed-stage company.
My former colleagues at Novartis just signed a $1.7B deal with a seed-stage company — not for a drug or a molecule, but for targets. This signals a real shift in where pharma sees risk and is willing to pay in the value chain.
Small molecules, big bottleneck: why chemistry is still holding back AI drug discovery
Most AI drug discovery decks assume chemistry will keep up — but small molecule chemistry is still slow, manual, and spread across vendors, which is where a lot of AI 'efficiency' quietly disappears. I look at why fixing chemistry first may be the real unlock, and at the teams finally treating it as the main problem to solve.
Healthcare AI regulation should follow patient impact, not software labels
I joined a Health Tech Forward panel in Barcelona on AI regulation in healthcare, where I argued that outcome-based regulation — focused on what AI actually does for patients — is far more effective than layering a second horizontal tech framework on top of existing medical device rules.
The "Linux moment" for techbio just happened. But Linux did not win because it was free.
MIT just open-sourced BoltzGen, a generative AI for protein binder design — but I don't think it disrupts AI drug discovery companies any more than Linux killed software. The moat was never the model; it's proprietary data, wet-lab validation, and pharma relationships.
One technology. Four incompatible playbooks.
I'm seeing AI strategy in healthcare fragment into at least four distinct regulatory realities — the US, EU, emerging Gulf markets, and China — and I'll be diving into what this means for innovation at Health Tech Forward in Barcelona on December 3rd.
Is a "global" AI strategy even possible in healthcare right now?
I'm asking whether a truly "global" AI strategy is even possible in healthcare right now, given the increasingly incompatible regulatory playbooks emerging across the US, EU, and China. I'll be exploring this live at Health Tech Forward in Barcelona on December 3rd.
Jeff Bezos just bet $106M on AI that designs proteins that don't exist in nature
Jeff Bezos just bet $106M on Profluent, a company using frontier AI models to design proteins that don't exist in nature — and I break down exactly what makes these models 'frontier' and why it matters for programmable biology.
AbbVie is quietly unwinding its 11 year longevity bet with Google's (Alphabet's) Calico Life Scie...
AbbVie is quietly unwinding its 11-year longevity bet with Google's (Alphabet's) Calico Life Sciences — a $1.5B collaboration started in 2014 around aging and age-related disease. I don't think this particular setback signals something more fundamental, but it raises real questions about where dedicated drug development in longevity is headed.
After working with both global pharma leaders and early-stage AI firms, I've seen a pattern: Par...
After working with both global pharma leaders and early-stage AI firms, I've seen a pattern: partnerships, done right, are the only scalable route to real-world adoption of AI.
Pharma used to rent compute. Eli Lilly and Company just bought the factory.
Eli Lilly just moved from renting compute to owning it — 1,000+ Blackwell B300 GPUs in an on-prem DGX SuperPOD in Indianapolis. Their TuneLab initiative could turn R&D IT from a cost center into a deal channel, and it's further proof that pharma is finally taking AI seriously.
Two panels, one question: Are we ready for healthcare's AI decade?
At the Global Health Exhibition in Riyadh, I moderated two panels bringing together top investors and operators to explore how AI can move from pilot to platform across pharma and care delivery — and the consensus was clear: execution, not technology, will define the winners of the next wave of digital health.
AI implementation in healthcare in the KSA is progressing at an breathtaking speed.
AI implementation in healthcare in the KSA is progressing at a breathtaking speed — I was inspired by Saad Alhuzami's case study on the MOH Cortex project at Global Health Exhibition, covering agentic AI, ML modeling, digital twins, and care orchestration.
AI in healthcare is scaling, but ambient scribes face a shake-up.
The Menlo Ventures report on AI in healthcare confirms that the sector is now one of the fastest adopters of enterprise AI, with ambient scribes leading the charge — but commoditization and pricing pressure are already reshaping the competitive landscape. My bet for the next battlefield is RCM.
Many think GenAI will replace data standards. They're wrong. In fact, for AI in healthcare to b...
Many think GenAI will replace data standards — I argue the opposite: for AI in healthcare to be trustworthy, GenAI makes standards like SNOMED and LOINC more critical than ever.
The AI-biology frontier: an inspiring panel this morning at BioTechX with Lena Afeyan of Flagsh...
I joined an inspiring panel this morning at BioTechX with investors from Flagship Pioneering, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, MTIP, Lauxera Capital Partners, and Archimed to discuss where we stand on the journey of cracking biology and health with AI. From agentic AI and defensible moats to the tech-bio platform vs. pipeline dilemma and whether we're in an AI bubble, the conversation covered the full frontier.
AI in drug discovery at scale: an inspiring talk from Sergei Yakneen, CTO at Isomorphic Labs, at ...
I attended an inspiring talk from Sergei Yakneen, CTO at Isomorphic Labs, at BiotechX2025 in Basel — and it's clear that Google's Alphabet subsidiary is really onto something with their AlphaFold3-powered approach to AI drug discovery at scale.
An exciting panel including Jan Schlender and Gunther Jansen, PhD of Novartis , Petrina Kamya, P...
I attended an exciting panel on GenAI's impact in preclinical development, featuring voices from Novartis, Insilico Medicine, and INVIDIA. Key themes included the balance of AI opportunity and risk, the power of robotics combined with AI, and the ongoing challenge of data organization and institutional memory in the lab.
An interesting talk by Roche's Pierre Fischer at BioTechX about their Data Mesh Operating model.
I attended an interesting talk by Roche's Pierre Fischer at BioTechX about their Data Mesh Operating model, covering domain ownership, a dedicated data marketplace, and how their platform reduced dashboard delivery from months to under a week.
There isn't a week where we don't see headlines around big companies restructuring because of AI.
I don't buy the story that AI is already driving mass job cuts at big companies — most of these restructuring announcements are regular cost-cutting dressed up with an AI angle. That said, agentic AI is getting better every day, and the real question of whether total job growth will outpace AI-driven redundancies is one even the smartest economists haven't answered yet.
From pilot to platform. The NHS is standing up a national AI screening cloud so every trust can...
The NHS is building AIR-SP, a national AI screening cloud that lets every trust plug into shared, real-world trials — starting with a breast-cancer study involving nearly 700,000 women. I think the overall approach makes sense, and I'd love to see other countries adopt something similar.
From AI to superintelligence: Lila just raised $235M to turbocharge its 'AI Science Factories
Flagship Pioneering's Lila Sciences just raised $235M in Series A to build AI-and-robotics-powered "science factories" — and I think the full-stack automation thesis is more compelling than AI-alone approaches for drug discovery.
Healthcare AI agents: why evaluation must move from answers to actions
Healthcare AI is moving from answers to actions — and model evaluation must shift from simplistic multiple-choice testing to comprehensive workflow safety and governance. I'm convinced that agentic workflow automation will be a massive opportunity in healthcare and life sciences.
Dubai, WHX Tech. Everywhere AI in healthcare is debated; here it is being deployed.
In Dubai at WHX Tech, AI in healthcare isn't just being debated — it's being deployed. A new health-data sandbox is launching so startups can work with de-identified EMR under clear governance, build quickly, and prove safety.
Is the future of healthcare a partnership between doctors and algorithms?
I joined Sonal Rupani on Dubai Eye 103.8's The Reboot to explore real-world AI applications in healthcare and the ethical considerations we need to address as we move forward — a perfect primer for my panel on real-world AI usage in healthcare at WHX Tech Dubai.
From $600M to $81M: Tempus buys Paige as healthcare AI consolidates
Consolidation in healthcare AI is inevitable, but the $81M acquisition price of Paige AI by Tempus AI — after raising over $260M and once valued at $600M — is a sobering reminder that building a great product and figuring out how to monetize it are two very different challenges.
+55% revenue growth. +50% share price. In DigitalHealth.
Hinge Health is up 50% in share price since its IPO while posting 55% revenue growth — a rare combination that digital health genuinely needs more of. I'm asking which other digital health companies are quietly building towards a breakout moment like this.
Up to $190 billion in damages. Wow.
Meta is facing up to $190 billion in damages after users of the period-tracking app Flo alleged their sensitive health data was shared with Meta for targeted advertising. I see this as a timely reminder for all of us to treat our health data with far greater care.
Free feature or foundational platform? Investors have poured nearly $1 billion into the AI scri...
Investors have poured nearly $1 billion into the AI scribe market this year, and this week's announcements from Doximity and Ambience Healthcare drew the battle lines clearly: is ambient AI documentation a free commodity feature, or the foundation of a dominant clinical workflow platform?
Is bigger always better when it comes to data in AI?
I explore why bigger isn't always better when it comes to data in AI — and why, in healthcare especially, the real problem is data quality, not quantity. Curated, structured, interoperable data is what will make trustworthy clinical AI possible.
It is great to see more unicorns in health tech AI. OpenEvidence is now valued at more than $3.5B...
It's great to see more unicorns in health tech AI — OpenEvidence is now valued at more than $3.5B after a $210M Series B backed by Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, GV, and Coatue. GenAI is clearly starting to move beyond the pilot phase into daily clinical practice, and the AI hype cycle in health tech venture investment shows no signs of ending just yet.
Participating in this week's SNOMED International board meeting here at the historic Midland Manc...
Participating in the SNOMED International board meeting in Manchester reinforces my conviction that SNOMED CT is absolutely critical for healthcare AI. As a board member chairing the Technology and Innovation Committee, I see firsthand how this global standard transforms fragmented health data into a reliable, structured foundation for AI innovation.
Is AI a better diagnostician than your doctor? A recent Microsoft study suggests so, but the rea...
A recent Microsoft study suggests AI outperforms doctors at diagnosis, but only under artificially constrained conditions — the real story is about AI augmenting physicians, not replacing them. The greatest barrier to better patient outcomes isn't physician skill or technology potential; it's the clinical inertia and outdated infrastructure keeping them apart.
An interesting discussion on AI in drug discovery and development with Thirupathi Pattipaka from...
I joined an interesting discussion on AI in drug discovery and development at HLTHEurope2025 with panelists from Novartis, Roche, and OWKIN. From real-world evidence generation to biomarker development and regulatory considerations, the conversation covered both the opportunities and challenges of bringing AI into pharma.
Insightful discussion at HLTHEurope in Amsterdam on the topic of "So you want to be a founder" w...
I joined an insightful panel discussion at HLTHEurope in Amsterdam on what it really takes to be a founder in healthcare. From finding a mission you're obsessed with, to building the right team and support network at home — here are the key lessons that stood out.
Some good learnings from the AIspotlight at HLTHEurope2025 on federated data and learning coll...
I share key learnings from the AIspotlight at HLTHEurope2025 on federated data and learning collaboration, where speakers from Roche, Charité, and beyond made the case for combining insights across institutions. A recurring theme: this shift in how we interact with health data requires clearer explanation and specific use cases for stakeholders.
Full Circle: Anne Wojcicki buys back 23andMe for $305M - now what?
Anne Wojcicki's company TTAM has outbid Regeneron with a $305M offer to buy back 23andMe's assets — and I'm intrigued about where this goes next.
One of the biggest paradoxes in health data: the most valuable insights are locked within the mo...
One of the biggest paradoxes in health data is that the most valuable insights are locked within the most sensitive and difficult-to-access information — a natural brake on innovation. I explore how the new Atropos Health and Databricks partnership takes a meaningful step toward solving this.
I wrote last week about the two recent DigitalHealth IPOs. After the successful going public of...
I look at Omada Health's IPO following Hinge Health's successful public debut, noting that the valuation reflects a new market reality prioritizing a clear path to profitability over hyper-growth. I'm encouraged by the early performance but remain cautious about declaring the IPO window truly open again given ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty.
Quick update on ELSA, the FDA's new GenAI tool.
I share a quick update on ELSA, the FDA's new GenAI tool powered by Anthropic's Claude, and why I genuinely appreciate the FDA's decision to launch it despite early imperfections — because in healthcare, the biggest challenge with new tech isn't the technology, it's the change management.
The FDA now uses GenAI to review your dossier - and that's a good thing.
The FDA is now using GenAI to review regulatory dossiers — and I think that's a good thing. Pharma companies have already been using generative AI to craft submissions, so it makes perfect sense for regulators to leverage the same technology on their end.
Can the Middle East become the new hub for healthcare AI?
After several recent trips to the GCC, I've seen firsthand how the UAE and Saudi Arabia are putting serious momentum and capital into building AI-first healthcare ecosystems. This week's Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi partnership with G42 and Oracle Health is one to watch.
Great conversation on how AI is reshaping VirtualCare, with fellow panelists Hala Alhodaib, PhD...
I joined fellow panelists from Saudi FDA, WEF, LEAN, and others at the menatelehealth conference in Riyadh to discuss how AI is reshaping virtual care. We explored Saudi Arabia's regulatory sandbox approach, high-impact use cases from LLMs in critical care to agentic AI, and the infrastructure enabling it all.
Last week at the AI in Clinical Development Summit 2025 in NYC, I had the pleasure of joining an...
Last week at the AI in Clinical Development Summit 2025 in NYC, I joined a panel tackling the timeless build-or-buy question for pharma AI in clinical development. Our consensus: a "build with" strategy — co-developing with selected strategic AI startup partners — strikes the right balance between speed, fit, and long-term value.
Biolinq raises $100M to disrupt glucose monitoring - but what makes their patch different?
Biolinq has raised $100M to challenge the CGM market with an intradermal patch that uses microneedles and a built-in LED display — and I break down what makes their approach genuinely different from devices like Abbott's FreeStyle Libre.
Interesting talks from Isabel Afonso, Bettina Ernst Sumit Sharma, and Alessandro Borgogna at A...
I attended AbuDhabiGlobalHealthWeek and heard compelling talks on the UAE's AI and healthcare ambitions. The region is investing heavily in data infrastructure, international R&D partnerships, and the funding ecosystem needed to attract global investment.
Traveling back from several intense days at the quarterly SNOMED International Management Board m...
I'm traveling back from several intense days at the quarterly SNOMED International Management Board meeting in Oslo, where I chair the Technology and Innovation Committee. Here's why internationally aligned clinical standards remain vital — and are even essential — for effective AI in healthcare.
Another huge funding round for the currently blazing topic of AI-enabled drug discovery: Google D...
Google DeepMind's spin-off Isomorphic Labs has just raised $600M from Thrive Capital and GV, the latest mega-round in the blazing AI-enabled drug discovery space. I'm watching closely to see whether bigger funding truly translates to tangible clinical results in this rapidly emerging field.
Bill Gates now predicts that AI will replace many doctors and teachers within 10 years.
Bill Gates predicts AI will replace many doctors and teachers within 10 years — but I think he may be underestimating how hard it is to fix systems that are already deeply broken. The technology will be ready; whether our dysfunctional healthcare systems will truly change is another question.
We all start to increasingly rely on AI and LLMs in the medical setting, whether it is replacin...
We're increasingly relying on AI and LLMs in medical settings — from self-diagnosis to clinical co-pilots — but there are still no good benchmarks for how well these models actually perform in real clinical practice. I think we have a long way to go before LLMs become truly reliable thought partners in our medical journeys.
AI in healthcare shouldn't aim to replace professionals - instead, its true potential lies in en...
AI in healthcare shouldn't aim to replace professionals — its true potential lies in enhancing their ability to deliver quality care. I explore how Wysa's merger with April Health exemplifies the broader industry trend of combining human empathy with AI-enabled tools in mental healthcare.
At the risk of turning my LinkedIn feed into a John Le Carré novel, here's yet one more post on #...
Even Epic — not historically known as an innovation powerhouse — is now fully embracing AI agents. I share highlights from an interview with Epic's SVP of R&D and offer my take on what their commitment to AI and open collaboration means for healthcare.
A very insightful panel at the EPA lconference in Amsterdam from Gavin Lewis of Novartis, Annett...
I attended a very insightful panel at the EPA conference in Amsterdam on how global healthcare reforms are impacting local market access strategy. Modeling demands are becoming more challenging, joined Health Technology Assessments are increasingly the rule, and — as Gavin Lewis of Novartis put it — your access strategy is becoming your entire enterprise strategy.
I've previously written several times about the power of AI agents.
I've written several times about the power of AI agents, and I remain convicted that they will bring a fundamental shift in the way we work — including in healthcare — in the next five years. Healthcare may be sleeping on this shift, but the time to start exploring Agentic AI is now.
AI prescribing medications? A new bill in the US could make it possible.
A proposed US bill could allow AI to legally prescribe medications — a significant shift beyond today's administrative and decision-support roles. I see this as a potential turning point in how AI is integrated into clinical practice, though regulatory and safety challenges remain.
Is AI truly rewriting the rules of drug discovery - or is it just another buzzword?
I explore whether AI is truly rewriting the rules of drug discovery or just riding a wave of hype — from Latent Labs' €48M funding round to the real-world limits of fully in silico drug development. I genuinely believe we'll see the first 100% AI-discovered drug hit the market within the next 5–7 years.
Some insightful discussions at the FutureofHealth summit in Dubai today.
I attended the FutureofHealth summit in Dubai today, where leaders from PureHealth and GE HealthCare shared their visions for agentic AI in primary care and oncology — including the bold idea that primary care could become free over time.
Big money for prevention!
Neko Health's $260M raise is a signal that prevention may finally be getting the prime-time moment it deserves. I reflect on why this investment matters for a part of healthcare that has long been underfunded despite being the most cost-effective way to manage disease.
A really insightful panel discussion on longevity at WHX Dubai (formerly Arab Health), hosted b...
I attended a really insightful panel discussion on longevity at WHX Dubai, and it challenged my assumption that longevity was mostly a US west coast buzzword. The UAE's patient safety-first, scientifically validated approach — combining genomics, AI, and precision medicine — could be a genuine game changer.
Everybody is talking about DeepSeek and how it just erased a sizeable chunk of NVIDIA's market c...
Everybody is talking about DeepSeek and how it just erased a sizeable chunk of NVIDIA's market cap — so I asked DeepSeek R1 itself what this means for AI's future energy consumption. The answer is nuanced, and I'm quite impressed with what it came up with.
It currently feels like a new techbio AI drug discovery play is launched on a weekly basis, whi...
It currently feels like a new techbio AI drug discovery play is launched on a weekly basis, showing the AI hype in this field isn't over yet. I'm curious to see how this new generation of companies will fare compared to previous biotech platform plays, given that many steps like MedChem and Toxicology still take time even with AI acceleration.
Interesting insights from @Microsoft's Chief Medical Officer David Rhew, M.D. at ArabHealth in D...
I share interesting insights from Microsoft's Chief Medical Officer David Rhew, M.D. at ArabHealth in Dubai, covering GenAI's role in healthcare — from ambient scribes saving admin time to multimodal models, agentic AI, and the critical importance of trust in adoption.
Wrapping up 3 productive days in Orlando, Florida and preparing to head back to Europe, following...
Wrapping up three productive days in Orlando following my first meeting as Chair of SNOMED International's Technology and Innovation Committee, I came away with one clear conviction: as we move into an era of AI-enabled healthcare systems, SNOMED CT as a common global language will be more crucial than ever for accurate, interoperable communication between humans and machines.
One of the first tech-bio deals coming out to JPM this year: Insilico Medicine and MENARINI Group...
One of the first tech-bio deals out of JPM this year sees Insilico Medicine and MENARINI Group deepen their partnership around an AI-discovered asset — not an AI platform — potentially worth up to $550M. I'm curious which business model will emerge as the leader for AI-techbio companies: selling AI platforms and services, or developing your own pipeline.
Happy New Year everyone!
I recently gave Gemini Deep Research a try after it came up in three separate conversations, and I'm glad I did. It produces detailed, long-form research papers with referenced sources in minutes — a great tool for quickly getting a comprehensive grasp of a new topic.
What if your AI assistant could truly understand not just your words, but your world? Meta's Chie...
I've written before about AI agents and their transformative potential to take action rather than just engage in conversation — and the industry is rapidly validating this vision. From Meta's Yann LeCun to Salesforce's Marc Benioff to Anthropic's Claude, the signals are clear: if you're not experimenting with AI agents today, you're falling behind.
A billion-dollar healthcare startup's dramatic fall, and a case-study for VC-founder tensions: Fo...
A lawsuit against VC firm Mohr Davidow Ventures over the collapse of billion-dollar healthcare startup HealthTap is a sobering case-study in the dark side of startup financing and the complex power dynamics between founders, employees, and investors. As an independent board member, I see these tensions regularly — and they'll only increase as 2021 valuations come back down to reality.
Interesting insights on the use of GenAI in Healthcare, from Bayer's Guido Mathews, Medtronic's I...
Interesting insights on the use of GenAI in Healthcare, from Bayer's Guido Mathews, Medtronic's Irina Evstifeeva and Karista's Amine Benmoussa at Health Tech Forward in Barcelona. From drug discovery and digital twins to medical imaging and workflow efficiency, the panel surfaced where GenAI is maturing — and where it still has a long way to go.
A truly interesting panel at Health Tech Forward on Automation in Clinical Trials with insilco t...
I attended a fascinating panel at Health Tech Forward on Automation in Clinical Trials featuring in-silico trials and digital twins. Speakers from QuantHealth, a leading VC, and United Therapeutics shared how AI is cutting trial lengths, replacing animal models, and opening new doors for orphan disease research.
The AI-driven techbio revolution is heating up:
Cradle, a Netherlands-based generative AI biotech startup, just raised a $73M Series B — a round that's truly big by EU standards and signals the explosive growth of AI-driven drug discovery. I see real parallels to the rise of Veeva, and the coming years promise to be game-changing.
This could be big: "Oura valued at $5B following deal with medical device firm Dexcom.
Oura's $5B valuation following its deal with Dexcom signals a powerful convergence of continuous glucose monitoring and consumer wearables — and I think it could be a game-changer for health optimization well beyond diabetic patients.
Some really interesting news from Sanofi recently, in the hot AI in clinical trials space: Format...
Formation Bio, in collaboration with Sanofi and OpenAI, has introduced Muse, an AI-powered tool designed to optimize patient recruitment in clinical trials. I think it will be fascinating to watch how this three-party collaboration — Big Pharma, Health Tech, and Large Tech — evolves, and I wouldn't be surprised to see more of these partnerships emerge in the coming year.
The AI Scale Debate: Have We Hit the Ceiling on 'Bigger is Better'?
I'm seeing remarkable productivity gains using AI daily, but some industry insiders are signaling we may be approaching the limits of the current 'scale-up' approach to LLMs. Here's my take on the three emerging pathways that could define what comes next.
Just back from an insightful experience at the Global Health Exhibition - ملتقى الصحة العالمي in ...
Just back from the Global Health Exhibition in Riyadh, I was inspired by the 'can-do' mindset driving healthcare advancements across the GCC. AI and digital health solutions are making a tangible difference in patient outcomes, and Saudi Arabia is fast becoming a global example of digital transformation in healthcare.
Absolutely thrilled to wrap up three inspiring days in Seoul at the SNOMED International Manageme...
I'm honored to announce my appointment as a Management Board member of SNOMED International, following three inspiring days in Seoul at the Management Board and business meetings. I'm passionate about advancing data standards like SNOMED CT to drive AI-powered healthcare transformation and improve patient outcomes worldwide.
This might just be the future of learning, with GenAI.
I fed Google's NotebookLM the entire 144-page EU AI Act and the result was a genuinely jaw-dropping podcast-style conversation that made learning feel effortless — this might just be the future of learning with GenAI.
A great talk from Gilead's Jeremy Zhang on scaling LLMs like OpenAI and Claude to the clinical po...
A great talk from Gilead's Jeremy Zhang at BiotechX on scaling LLMs like OpenAI and Claude to the clinical portfolio — covering key use cases from protocol design to automated document generation, and the real hurdles of stakeholder skepticism and regulatory clarity.
Hype vs Hope of AI in Drug Discovery, a fascinating panel this morning at BiotechX in Basel, ...
I attended a fascinating panel on the Hype vs Hope of AI in Drug Discovery at BiotechX in Basel this morning. The conversation surfaced some sharp insights on where AI is genuinely moving the needle in drug discovery — and where the hype still outpaces reality.
A truly interesting talk from Gilead's Patrick Loerch on creating real AI value in Biopharma at ...
At BiotechX in Basel, Gilead's Patrick Loerch outlined what it really takes for AI to create value in biopharma — from systemic business impact to decision-making influence. I found his take on centralized vs. distributed AI models, regulatory coordination, and clinical value chain opportunities particularly compelling.
How would you like being the Health Care AI Czar? Of the most powerful economies of the world? Ma...
Being the Health Care AI Czar of the most powerful economy in the world sounds impressive — but maybe think twice. I share a great STAT podcast episode on Micky Tripathi, the acting HHS Chief AI Officer, and the daunting reality of his role.
Mind-blown by GenAI innovation... I usually avoid hyperbole in my posts, but this time, I'm genu...
I usually avoid hyperbole, but Google's NotebookLM genuinely amazed me — I uploaded my publication on 15 Key Insights in HealthTech & Big Pharma Partnerships and it generated a full podcast with two virtual hosts discussing the key takeaways.
Is AI now outperforming humans? OpenAI recently unveiled their newest model, OpenAI o1, nickname...
OpenAI recently unveiled o1 — nicknamed Strawberry — which some reports suggest scores an IQ of around 120, putting it on par with or above many humans. I explore what makes this model different and why its ability to "think" before responding could be a game changer in expert-level fields.
China is next level: While Europe is still trying to implement an electronic patient record, Ten...
While Europe is still trying to implement an electronic patient record, Tencent in China is building an end-to-end digital healthcare system — a vision I saw firsthand when we at Novartis built our strategic partnership with Tencent back in 2018.
$120M Alert: Another significant funding round in AI-driven drug discovery, this time with Lilly...
Another significant $120M funding round has landed in AI-driven drug discovery, this time with Lilly leading alongside Nvidia and key VC funds. I'm optimistic that we could be witnessing the birth of the next Amgen, Genentech, or Biogen — powered by AI.
Spotify goes prevention, or the consumerization of health care.
Neko Health's AI-powered body scan is making waves as celebrities line up for the £300 check-up at its new London branch. I think these technologies are about enhancing healthcare, not replacing it — complementing public systems with early, accessible diagnostics.
My AI agent will be in touch" — Could this be our near future?
I've been watching AI agents emerge as the next major frontier in GenAI, and the tipping point — when agents interact more with other agents than with humans — could be sooner than we think. From Amazon's aqui-hire of Adept to coding a working Pong game in under a minute with Claude 3.5, the shift from "brains in a jar" to machines that take real action is already underway.
Founder_Mode is taking over VC Twitter! But what exactly is it, and why is everyone talking abou...
Founder Mode is taking over VC Twitter, and I'm curious whether the excitement is justified. Having worked in traditional corporate environments, I've seen how conventional management often stifles true innovation — and I think a different approach might be key for founders.
Is Pharma Finally Stepping Up Its Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Game?
Big Pharma is increasingly jumping on the direct-to-consumer bandwagon in the U.S., with Lilly Direct, Pfizer-For-All, and others following the trail blazed by Ro and Hims/Hers. I'm asking whether this could be the moment when Pharma's business model truly evolves — and whether these companies can finally engage directly with patients.
For those closely watching the evolution of the Digital Therapeutics (DTx) market, here's a note...
Following Pear's bankruptcy, their FDA-cleared DTx apps reSET and reSET-O have been relaunched by PursueCare — and I think it's a timely reminder that we may have been overly optimistic about digital therapeutics succeeding independently, and that go-to-market strategy deserves an open mind.
There's been significant buzz around the possibility of Roche selling Flatiron, and honestly, I'm...
I'm not entirely surprised by the buzz around Roche potentially selling Flatiron — transitioning to a truly data-driven, RWE-focused business model is no small feat for large pharma, and the bigger question is who will ultimately lead the large-scale RWE and curated healthcare data space.
A lot of insightful articles have already been written around the recently announced Recursion/Ex...
I'm curious to see how the AI drug discovery space will evolve following the Recursion/Exscientia merger — and I'd personally bet on the traditional biotech drug-development model with AI enablement, rather than a pure SaaS or CRO play.
A US judge has just ruled that Google is a "monopolist". I'm no lawyer, but I find it interesting...
A US judge has just ruled that Google is a "monopolist" — and I find it interesting that this judgment is arriving at a time when Google is probably challenged more than ever across its core business segments. It highlights both the importance of tech regulation and how slow the antitrust machinery moves compared to the speed of evolution in the tech sector.
This is a fascinating development: Microsoft now formally lists OpenAI as a competitor, despite h...
Microsoft now formally lists OpenAI as a competitor, despite having invested $13 billion into the company — a move that may be tied to SearchGPT or antitrust optics. The strategic manoeuvres around these massive LLM-race investments are captivating.
This is truly breaking news, and I assume Google's senior team will be even more concerned. OpenA...
OpenAI's formal entry into search could mark one of the most fundamental shifts in the internet economy — and I think Google's senior team has real reason to be concerned. I've already moved away from Googling for most things, and SearchGPT may accelerate that shift for millions of others.
It is fascinating to see, and pretty much a full time job in itself, to explore the continuous em...
I'm tracking the continuous emergence of new AI foundation models — from Mistral Large 2 to Meta's Llama 3.1 — as a billion-dollar arms race. My prediction: three types of models will emerge, and for healthcare, specialised imaging models like Microsoft's collaboration with Mass General Brigham are the ones to watch.
AI vs. HCP: There have been a lot of discussions recently around the question if enabling patient...
I've been following the debate around whether enabling patient interactions with GenAI is a net positive or negative — and a recent study suggests machines can sometimes outperform overworked hospital staff on empathy, understandability, and tone.
CB insights has just released this report on the AI readiness of different hospital systems in t...
CB Insights has just released a report on the AI readiness of different hospital systems in the US, and I'd love to see a similar study done for Europe. From my experience working with startups in the field, France, Spain, and several Scandinavian markets appear ahead of places like Germany or Switzerland.
Rock Health just released an interesting report on the usage of digital solutions for weight mana...
Rock Health's 2024 Weight Care Experience Survey highlights that consumers favor multi-approach weight loss strategies, with exercise and diet most popular and virtual coaching services like Noom and WW widely used. I see this as the archetype of a major behavioural health challenge where well-executed digital solutions with smart AI components should be a perfect complement to the current GLP-1 craze.
I've just shared here some days ago the somewhat encouraging stats around digital health investme...
I flagged some encouraging digital health investment stats recently, but a key leading indicator — how much VCs are raising for their funds — is not looking great, across all domains. Without a trend breaker in IPO and M&A exit opportunities, it will become even harder for healthtech companies to raise money in the future.
I'm not a regular follower of celebrity news, but when these two celebs are called Sam Altman and...
I came across a TIME article by Sam Altman and Arianna Huffington worth reading amid all the AI noise — they're building an AI health coaching app called Thrive AI that combines best practices of behaviour change with AI.
PharmaTech is increasingly becoming a category on its own, with PitchBook's Kazi Y. Helal, PhD e...
PharmaTech is increasingly becoming a category on its own, with PitchBook launching a dedicated research report and Q1 2024 seeing $749 million in funding across 39 deals. I think it's worth examining how they define the category, given the interesting mix of CDMO/CMO activities and AI enablement they cluster together.
AI agents in healthcare: first pilots will start in administration
AI agents — systems that don't just converse but actually do things for you — are the next frontier after GenAI, and I predict we'll see the first pilots for administrative tasks in healthcare within the next 2–3 years.
It is really fascinating to see how Amazon is iterating its way into healthcare.
It is really fascinating to see how Amazon is iterating its way into healthcare. After many failed attempts, the acquisition pathway using One Medical as a platform — combined with a continuously improving online pharmacy model — seems to be working.
Despite the challenging fundraising environment, we are witnessing significant investments in AI-...
Despite the challenging fundraising environment, we are witnessing significant investments in AI-enabled drug discovery and development. Formation Bio's nearly $400M Series D and Xaira Therapeutics' emergence from stealth mode signal intensifying competition among major VC funds to lead in AI-powered biotech innovations.
I just got back home from two packed days at LSX2024 in London.
I just got back from two packed days at LSX2024 in London, where I joined panels on pharma's path to launching digital health products and shared how QuantHealth will transform clinical trial design. Here are my key takeaways from the healthtech track.