Uni-unicorn?
This week, a new creature could soon exist, your boss is definitely an alien, last week’s edition was nonsense and more.
And welcome to The Vitals.
This week, a new creature could soon exist, your boss is definitely an alien, last week’s edition was nonsense and more.
Have a lovely weekend,
Will.
Have a lovely weekend,
Will.
Eversana drama
While most of us were on vacation, Eversana went shopping and bought Waltz Health, an innovative disruptor that could provide pharma with some powerful savings (or margin protection) in their US revenues, through a smarter AI-driven approach to market access. And look, they’ve bagged a new CEO at the same time. It’s a fascinating takeover for a commercialisation partner to bring on board, creating some new synergies that might make a real difference.
The great congress con?
Are medical congress booths worth it? Of course they are! Pharma wouldn’t even think of spending millions of dollars on them if they weren’t…surely? Right? Um? Well, let’s see. For some of us, it makes sense. For others, setting up expensive booths is just the Done Thing—driving a ridiculous notion that if you don’t have branded biscuits, a suite of attractive reps and a stage that looks like a Mars base at every congress in the land, you might not be a serious brand. Perhaps we need a Great Debate to settle the question once and for all. Oh look, there’s one happening soon. Click here to attend.
Chatting health
ChatGPT is getting a version that is explicitly built for healthcare. No particular surprises there—I mean, every tech bro and his chatbot is having a go at healthcare these days. Uncle Sam Altman has probably seen all the weird chats we’ve been having with his model about ‘that funny feeling in that difficult-to-reach place’ and has decided it’s an opportunity too good to miss. It may manifest in a way we didn’t quite expect: as a liaison between patients and medical professionals rather than a direct replacement for them. But, from a series of tragic incidents that have occurred over the last few weeks, we think some serious soul-searching is required before the tech gurus drop these tools on a vulnerable population.
No bubble trouble
Last week, The Vitals was concerned about bursting bubbles. Well, a week later, it turns out there was nothing to fear—those AI bubbles appear to remain firmly intact. If, indeed, they’re really bubbles at all. Closer analysis suggests that there really is some decent traction behind many of the rapidly rolled-out AI healthcare startups that have bloomed over the last couple of years. For a start, ten health-AI companies crossed a $1 billion valuation this year and there have been five exits for over $1 billion. Could we be seeing a brutal game of survival of the fittest in this space, rather than an overhyped market?
Uni-unicorn?
There are musings in the world of business that we might be about to discover a creature so rare that it doesn’t even exist yet: the uni-unicorn. As entrepreneurs learn to manipulate AI tools in innovative ways, the idea that someone could build a unicorn with no employees whatsoever no longer feels like a childish fantasy. It’s eminently possible that this could happen in the healthcare space. An AI-driven virtual clinic? An AI-first medical device company that can rapidly scale digitally? An automated drug discovery engine? These now feel possible for a enthusiastic entrepreneur with the right AI to hand.
My boss is an alien
By now it’s common knowledge that major politicians and leaders of corporations, including pharma, are run by lizard-aliens. And so, it’s probably unwise to kidnap them. But what if you did? It’s the premise of a new documentary...I mean, *movie*, starring Emma Stone. It’s not out yet, but I wouldn’t let your boss know you’ve seen it—you don’t want them to know that you know.
The Vitals is getting more Vital than ever. We’re more than just a newsletter. Have you joined the Vitals tribe on LinkedIn? Follow us for a flurry of news comment throughout the week and broadcasts every other Thursday.