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