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InnovationRx: #HealthcareIsHard; Plus Waning Covid Vaccine Immunity

InnovationRx is your weekly digest of healthcare news. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here.

Healthcare is hard. Just ask Big Tech. Last week, Cerner announced Google Health executive David Feinberg was named president and CEO of the electronic health records giant starting in October. The next day, Business Insider reported the tech giant was dismantling its healthcare division and spreading the existing projects and teams across different parts of Google. It’s been a rocky few years since the group was established in 2018. The following year Google Health came under fire for “Project Nightingale,” which was using its search and AI technology to analyze patient records at Ascension, the largest nonprofit health system in the U.S.

This is the second time Google has shut down its healthcare operations, following an attempt to launch an internet-based personal health record in the late aughts. “Agree #healthcareishard is a factor in Google failing 2X,” tweeted Aaron Martin, chief digital officer at Providence Ventures and a former Amazon employee. “It's also about big tech becoming so complex with so many dependencies — harder to get hard things done.” 


Telehealth Startup Calibrate Notches A $100 Million Series B 

Isabelle Kenyon is looking to disrupt the $70 billion weight-loss industry by focusing on holistic metabolic health instead of pounds on the scale. Her telehealth company Calibrate raised a $100 million Series B round co-led by new investors Founders Fund and Tiger Global. Calibrate charges $129 a month for its full suite of lifestyle coaching and weight management offerings with members reporting an average annual body weight loss of 14%. Read more here.


Noteworthy

The parent company of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is extending into Puerto Rico’s health insurance market with a $900 million acquisition

A case of Marburg virus disease was discovered in Africa earlier this month. Here’s why that might be a concern

Sleep-focused Supermoon Capital raises $36 million to fund what they’re calling the “night market.”

Coronavirus Updates

New research from the United Kingdom has determined that the effectiveness of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca starts to wane after about 6 months, though they remain largely protective and still prevent severe cases. This has led some experts to call for booster shots, especially for those most vulnerable to Covid-19. That case was bolstered by data from Johnson & Johnson, which states that a second shot of its vaccine helps create a very strong immune response. The nation of Brazil said that it’s going to begin booster shots in September. Meanwhile, in the United States, the number of people hospitalized from Covid-19 now exceeds 100,000, the first time it’s been that high since the end of January. The massive resurgence of Covid in the U.S. likely explains why over three-quarters of vaccinated Americans plan to get a booster shot when they’re ready for it.


We Have Lost The Battle Against Covid-19, But You Can Still Reduce Your Own Risk

Infectious disease expert Mark Kortepeter discusses how the United States has lost its battle with Covid, and what Americans can do to reduce their own personal risk. Read more here.

Other Coronavirus News

In November, Delta Air Lines will begin charging unvaccinated employees a $200 monthly health insurance surcharge to help the company combat costs related to Covid-19.

Chicago is giving city employees until October 15 to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, joining New York City and Los Angeles in enacting vaccine mandates for municipal workers.

A CDC study suggests that the delta variant has reduced the chances that vaccines will protect from Covid infection, but it’s still highly effective at preventing severe cases and hospitalization.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has published a count acknowledging 12,000 more deaths from Covid-19 in the state than what was reported by her predecessor Andrew Cuomo.

Across Forbes

Billionaire Richard Branson Is Taking Virgin Orbit Public At A $3 Billion Valuation

Biome Makers Raises $15 Million To Become The 23andMe Of Soil

Mercury Is No Longer The Closest Astronomical Body To The Sun: Scientists Just Discovered Our Star’s New Nearest Neighbor

What Else We are Reading

Female Entrepreneurs Still Live In The Shadow Of Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes (The New York Times)

The Ignored History of Nurse PTSD (Discover)

Illumina in EU antitrust sights over premature $8 bln Grail deal (Reuters)