A study presented Monday at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions found that one-third of those who initially screened positive for prediabetes or diabetes were able to bring their blood sugar down to normal levels after taking part in a workforce-based intervention.

The study by Quest Diagnostics, which involved a collaboration with the digital health provider Omada Health, shows promise for employer-based wellness programs that involve a 2-step process: screening for those at risk, and then offering an evidence-based program of lifestyle change and support for those whose health risks are revealed during screening.

Read More: ​https://www.ajmc.com/newsroom/quest-omada-health-collaboration-shows-onethird-in-workforce-study-reduced-risk-for-diabetes

Digital Therapeutics Pioneer Launches Comprehensive, Personalized Solution for Obesity-Related Chronic Disease

SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on the company's pioneering approach to digital behavior change, Omada Health today announced the availability of new programs that will help individuals control type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Adding to Omada's industry-leading diabetes prevention program, the company will now offer integrated condition management programs for enterprise and health plan customers, significantly expanding the populations Omada serves. Leveraging seven years of data-driven insights; integration experience with hundreds of health plan and employer customers; and a proven approach to sustainable lifestyle change, Omada will now provide personalized interventions for those at-risk for, or with, certain obesity-related chronic conditions.

"Since the early days of the company, we've developed Omada to be an adaptable program that delivers meaningful health outcomes for participants, and return on investment for customers," said Omada Health CEO Sean Duffy. "Today's announcement is the next step in that journey. Clients, partners, and participants want a holistic digital healthcare provider built on clinical evidence, best-in-class user experience, and validated results. As we deliver new programs and features, Omada will continue to help our customers manage the health of their populations, as well as their healthcare spending."

Read More: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/omada-health-adds-new-programs-for-type-2-diabetes-and-hypertension-self-management-300668419.html

Compared with carotid endarterectomy, transcarotid artery revascularization was associated with similar in-hospital outcomes in patients with carotid stenosis, according to data presented at the Society for Vascular Surgery Vascular Annual Meeting.

Transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR), which involves direct access via the carotid artery and cerebral protection with a flow-reversal system (Enroute, Silk Road Medical), has emerged as an alternative to transfemoral-access carotid artery stenting due to reduced risk for short-term stroke, Marc L. Schermerhorn, MD, chief of the division of vascular and endovascular surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, said during a presentation.

Schermerhorn and colleagues analyzed 1,182 patients who underwent TCAR (median age, 74 years; 63% men) and 10,797 patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy (median age, 71 years; 60% men) between January 2016 and March 2018 and were included in the SVS Vascular Quality Initiative TCAR Surveillance Project or endarterectomy databases.

Read More: ​https://www.healio.com/cardiac-vascular-intervention/cerebrovascular/news/online/%7B7a178c8b-fc0c-447e-88c6-a45e133833b0%7D/transcarotid-artery-revascularization-offers-similar-in-hospital-outcomes-to-surgery

Digital chronic disease management company Omada Health announced today the launch of new programs designed to support individuals with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Accompanying these are a set of new features for the enterprise and health plan platform focused on medication adherence and remote monitoring, all of which comprise what a representative from the company described as “the largest product expansion in Omada’s history.”

The addition of the diabetes and hypertension programs come as a part of Omada’s aim to become a more holistic health management and coaching offering, CEO Sean Duffy told MobiHealthNews. He stressed that the Omada platform is designed to be an open-ended system that customizes itself based on the user’s specific health needs.

Read More: https://www.mobihealthnews.com/content/omada-health-expands-digital-platform-type-2-hypertension-programs-new-features

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Silk Road Medical, Inc., a company dedicated to preventing the devastating burden of stroke through surgical innovation, today announced key events at the upcoming Society for Vascular Surgery 2018 Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) June 20-23 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. These include real-world data presentations comparing the company’s TransCarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR) procedure to transfemoral carotid artery stenting (TFCAS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA), as well as other company-sponsored events about TCAR.

Two podium presentations will feature data from the Society for Vascular Surgery’s TCAR Surveillance Project, launched in 2016 to obtain real-world comparative outcomes of TCAR and other carotid artery treatments from centers participating in the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI):

• “In-hospital Outcomes of TransCarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR) and Carotid Endarterectomy (CEA) in the SVS Vascular Quality Initiative” (VESS05) will be presented by Dr. Marc Schermerhorn of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston) on Wednesday, June 20 at 8:30 a.m. in Room 311.
• “TransCarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR) vs. Transfemoral Carotid Artery Stenting (TFCAS) in the SVS Vascular Quality Initiative” (SS24) will be presented by Dr. Mahmoud Malas of Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore) on Friday, June 22 at 4:22 p.m. in Ballroom A/B.

​Read More: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180618005276/en/Silk-Road-Medical-Announces-Key-Events-Society

Expanded Phase of Trial will Assess anti-TIGIT in Combination with anti-PD1

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:OMED), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel anti-cancer therapeutics, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in the company's Phase 1b portion of the Phase 1a/1b clinical trial of anti-TIGIT (OMP-313M32) in combination with anti-PD1 (nivolumab). TIGIT (T-cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains) is a next generation checkpoint receptor, and upon activation by the PVR ligand, a protein broadly expressed on tumor cells, it blocks T-cell activation. OncoMed's anti-TIGIT candidate is an IgG1 monoclonal antibody checkpoint inhibitor which binds to the human TIGIT receptor on T-cells with a goal of improving the activation and effectiveness of T-cell and NK cell tumor-killing activity.

"The dosing of the first patient in the Phase 1b portion of the anti-TIGIT trial marks an important milestone in the advancement of this therapeutic candidate through the clinic, where we will be evaluating the potential synergy of our anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibody with anti-PD1," said John Lewicki, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of OncoMed. "We look forward to continuing our exploration of the potential anti-tumor activity of anti-TIGIT and its ability to combine safely with anti-PD1 in key clinical oncology settings. Simultaneously, dose escalation in the Phase 1a portion of the trial is nearing completion and dose expansion in select tumor types is planned." 

Read More: http://www.oncomed.com/invest/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=1069903

All are natural leaders, and they share the same gender and title. But each has taken a different path to Silicon Valley success in the growing healthtech sector, with its own twists and trials.

Their stories, however, in an era marked by angst in executive suites and VC conference rooms over gender equity and harassment-related issues, reveal patterns in a larger tapestry. And perhaps glimpses of a few paths to progress.

Leslie Trigg, CEO of 110-employee Outset Medical in San Jose— which has raised $190 million and won FDA clearance for a revolutionary new dialysis treatment platform — credits three male mentors for helping her on the path that led to those accomplishments.

But before that, she took her new MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and applied to virtually every biotechnology company around.

“I got rejected by every biotech company,” Trigg says, “because I was essentially competing against people who had an MBA but (also) had an undergraduate science degree,” which she didn’t have.

Read More: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2018/05/31/women-of-healthtech-these-4-ceos-want-to-change.html?b=1527776492%5E21269447

Digital Therapeutics Pioneer Becomes Largest Diabetes Prevention Program Provider to Achieve Milestone

San Francisco, CA (May 30, 2018) -- Omada Health today announced that the company has graduated to full recognition status from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Omada now becomes the largest Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) provider, in-person or virtual, to achieve full recognition from the CDC.

“Today’s accomplishment is the culmination of work with the team at CDC that began back in 2011,” said Omada Co-Founder and CEO Sean Duffy. “Full recognition is a validation of our proprietary curriculum, our ability to engage and retain participants, and above all, the outcomes we achieve with individuals at risk for type 2 diabetes. As we continue to build integrated partnerships with health plans and employers, customers can be sure that their members are receiving a scalable, adaptable, best-in-class DPP solution.”

Read More: ​https://www.omadahealth.com/press/press-release-omada-health-achieves-full-cdc-approval

New study shows Hinge Health wearable sensors and coaching significantly improves chronic knee pain without opioids or surgery

Hinge Health, based in Silicon Valley, is the first digital health company to demonstrate that a mobile-first, at-home exercise therapy and behavioral coaching solution improves outcomes for chronic knee pain by 61% and elective surgeries by 63%. Founded in 2014 by clinical researchers, Hinge Health is a rare digital health company to choose the higher hurdle of demonstrating statistically significant outcomes in a pre-registered randomized control trial (N=162).

In an analysis of participants that completed the clinical trial intervention, published April 2018 in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, the Hinge Health treatment group achieved 61% improvement in Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pain from baseline compared to 21% improvement by the control group (P<0.001). Likelihood of surgery decreased in the Hinge Health treatment group from 63% compared to 17% in the control group. A cost-benefit analysis estimates that the study’s employer saved $438,000 in avoided surgeries across the 101 participants in the Hinge Health treatment group. Participants who completed the program averaged 3.3 exercise therapy sessions per week and engagement each week averaged 80%.

Read More: https://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/05/prweb15506621.htm

Summary:

- As a promising grower, OncoMed is leveraging on the “more shots on goal” strategy. Despite earlier missed clinical outcomes, the company is brewing stellar molecules that are approaching their binaries.
- Anti-TIGIT is an interesting franchise being investigated in combination with an anti-PD1. We’re most interested in navicixizumab, a multi-dimensional molecule being assessed in combination with the standard chemotherapy.
- If the later-stage clinical outcomes are favorable as we prognosticated, the company can become a target for acquisition.

Read More: ​https://seekingalpha.com/article/4175755-oncomed-pharmaceuticals-assessing-prospect-potential-robust-winner