In September, Rob Coppedge of Echo Ventures made waves with a CNBC-published commentary “Digital Health is Dead.” The content of his piece, however, delivered more nuance than its headline. Rob’s issue was not with the rise of an industry that has brought unprecedented consumer focus and innovation to a stagnated healthcare system; his critique was instead focused on the buzzword-focused ecosystem that has grown up around it. The final section of his piece is titled “Digital Health is Dead - Now the Work Begins.”

A week later, I gave a keynote at the Stanford’s Health Care Innovation Summit 2017, where I argued that an unlikely, and often-overlooked group will have an outsized influence directing that work: HR Benefits Managers at large corporations. (You can get the full event recording here or jump to Sean's talk.)

As much as any other group, these individuals have an ability to demand more of our still-nascent industry — more evidence, more personalization, and more systematic alignment between the interests of vendor, payer, and patient. In the next five years, this group will be the key gatekeepers to determine what is required from digital health companies looking to succeed.

Read More: https://www.omadahealth.com/news/hr-benefits-managers-era-of-digital-health

November 29, 2017—Silk Road Medical, Inc. announced data from the ROADSTER 1 and 2 trials demonstrating the safety and efficacy of the company’s Enroute transcarotid neuroprotection and Enroute transcarotid stent system, which are specifically designed and indicated for transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR). The data were first presented at the 2017 VEITHsymposium, held November 14–18 in New York, New York.

Peter Schneider, MD, National Coprincipal Investigator of the ROADSTER 2 postmarket study of the Enroute system, commented in the company's announcement, “TCAR is the next step. Carotid endarterectomy has been perfected over 50 years, but no matter how good it gets, it has certain inherent challenges that aren’t ever going to go away. My attitude now has really flip-flopped from that of tried-and-true surgery to what I think is the future of carotid artery repair.”

Read More: http://evtoday.com/2017/11/updated-tcar-data-presented-from-silk-road-medicals-roadster-1-and-2-studies/​

Office of the President continues to perform the duties of President and CEO

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OMED), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel anti-cancer therapeutics, today announced that Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Paul J. Hastings will resume his Chairman of the Board responsibilities, effective December 4, 2017.

The Office of the President, comprised of Executive Vice President, Research and Development, John Lewicki, and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Sunil Patel, will continue to perform the duties of President and CEO. The Office of the President will continue to report to a special committee of the Board of Directors composed of Deepa Pakianathan, Jack Lasersohn, Rick Winningham and Perry Karsen.

Read More: ​​http://www.oncomed.com/invest/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=1049868

Outset Medical, a commercial-stage company delivering new technology into the $13 billion global dialysis market, today announced the appointment of two new executives: Martin Vazquez, who joins the company as Chief Operating Officer, and Chad Hoskins as Vice President, Commercial and Corporate Strategy.

Vazquez is a seasoned med tech executive with more than 25 years of manufacturing, end-to-end complex supply chain management, product development and quality assurance experience, both in capital equipment and high-volume disposables. Most recently he served as Vice President, North America Operations and Global Sales and Operations Planning at Abbott Rapid Dx (formerly Alere) where he was responsible for a global supply network of rapid diagnostic test factories. Previously, he served as Worldwide Vice President, Manufacturing Management at Becton Dickinson where he led electromechanical and instrumentation manufacturing operations. Prior to BD, he was a senior operations leader at CareFusion overseeing a global network of manufacturing facilities, including a single facility producing over one million infusion sets per day.

Read More: ​https://finance.yahoo.com/news/outset-medical-expands-senior-leadership-130000914.html

Q3 Cash Balance of $113.6M — Cash through Q3 2019
Continued progress on the advancement of key clinical programs including GITRL-Fc Phase 1 initiation
Management to Host Conference Call/Webcast this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OMED), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel anti-cancer therapeutics, today announced third quarter financial results. As of September 30, 2017, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $113.6 million.

"OncoMed remains committed to developing novel anti-cancer therapeutics to improve the lives of patients. With four clinical programs progressing, including the newly initiated Phase 1a study of GITRL-Fc (OMP-336B11), OncoMed is positioned to deliver value for both patients and our shareholders," commented Sunil Patel, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "We look forward to upcoming clinical updates from our navicixizumab, rosmantuzumab and anti-TIGIT programs in 2018."

Read More: http://investor.shareholder.com/oncomed/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=1046927

Diabetes is one of the most pervasive and expensive chronic diseases: It affects an estimated 30.3 million people in the United States and costs a staggering $245 billion per year to treat. In addition there are 84.1 million adults in the United States with high blood sugar levels in danger of developing type 2 diabetes. It is widely acknowledged that the most effective method of treating these prediabetics so they don’t become full-fledged diabetics is diabetes prevention programs (DPPs) that follow a protocol validated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But the challenge has been to get people to enroll in them in the first place and stick with them if they do.

Omada Health, a digital therapeutics firm focused on preventing obesity-related chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, has made significant strides in achieving both with the 120,000 prediabetics who have participated in its program. Its success demonstrates the potential of digital health services, and its approach can serve as a model for applying such services to other chronic diseases. We studied Omada’s program as part of our Harvard Medical School initiative to identify and share knowledge about innovative approaches to major health challenges that primary care providers play the lead in treating.

Read More: ​https://hbr.org/2017/11/how-digital-health-care-can-help-prevent-chronic-diseases-like-diabetes