Health Technology, AI
Swoop | January 09, 2024
Swoop, a leader in developing precise direct to consumer (DTC) and healthcare provider (HCP) audiences for pharmaceutical and life sciences brands, today announced the launch of its AI-powered conversational agent. This groundbreaking advancement in healthcare marketing sets a new standard for lower funnel engagement, enabling immediate, MLR-compliant virtual customer interactions via brand.com.
“Swoop’s AI-powered conversational agent marks the first groundbreaking advancement for brand.com since the introduction of pharmaceutical websites in the 1990s, addressing a pressing need for innovation in how the industry engages with their customers,” said Scott Rines, underscoring the historic significance of this achievement. “Patients and physicians are looking for real-time information, 24/7/365 during their moment of need, but are often faced with an overwhelming experience on brand.com. They come to the site seeking fast, clear answers to their health-related questions – our agent solves this.”
Market conditions continue to remain a challenge with shortages of healthcare professionals despite an uptick in customer demand for information related to their condition and treatment decisions. Meanwhile, HCPs are also less likely to allow medical reps into their offices, a shift that has continued post-Covid. Instead, these increasingly digital-native, often over-extended, physicians prefer to seek information online when their schedule permits, limiting the impact of personal promotion.
“The ability to parse the data derived from lower funnel conversations with HCPs and patients in real time will prove invaluable, as these signals will become proprietary 1st party data to optimize future marketing spend and messaging,” added Rines.
Key Features of Swoop's Conversational Agent
Dynamic Patient Conversations: Patients and HCPs can engage with conversational AI in real-time, creating a personalized and responsive user experience to drive more high-value actions on a health brand website.
MLR-Approved Medical Information: Leveraging advanced algorithms, conversational AI provides MLR-approved answers to both simple and complex medical questions in the moment of need, enhancing the overall user experience for both patients and HCPs.
Real-Time Patient Insights: Valuable real-time data from conversations accessible via dashboards allows healthcare brands to assess the effectiveness of their messaging and make informed adjustments promptly.
Scalable to Client Demands: Whether for a single brand, therapeutic area or product portfolio, Swoop conversational AI agents can scale with the needs of healthcare marketers from new product launches to covering open territories and unsupported brands.
Patient Data Security and Compliance: Swoop prioritizes patient privacy and data security, ensuring that all conversational AI agents operate in compliance with the highest industry standards and regulations.
Typical Client Results Seen by Customers
96% – Average answer success rate of inquiries
5.2 minutes – Typical conversation duration
4.7/5 – Average user satisfaction rating
800% – Increase in high-value activities on brand websites
Swoop’s conversational AI technology is built on more than 1.3 billion conversations with patients and providers and has been trained under the supervision of physicians and medically trained clinicians. Unlike generative AI, which can hallucinate and is not appropriate for direct patient and HCP interaction in the heavily regulated pharmaceutical industry, Swoop conversational AI uses fine-tuned large language models to understand user intent and surface the most relevant MLR-approved answers to ensure compliance, accuracy and, most importantly, safety.
About Swoop
Swoop, part of Real Chemistry, enables pharmaceutical and life sciences brands to reach their ideal DTC and HCP audiences at crucial moments of their diagnosis and treatment journey. Using ML/AI and real world data, Swoop is a leader in developing brand-exclusive audiences of patients and their providers for healthcare companies. Once the right customers have been targeted, brands can drive bottom-of-the-funnel engagement through Swoop’s proprietary medically trained and MLR-compliant conversational AI. Built on a privacy-by-design foundation, Swoop is both HIPAA-certified and NAI accredited, having developed more than 12,000 unique target audiences for 42 of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies safely. Its conversational AI has been implemented across 100 health brands and trained on over 1.3 billion medical conversations.
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Medical Devices
Canon Medical Systems | January 15, 2024
Canon Medical Systems Corporation and Olympus Corporation announced that we have reached an agreement to collaborate on Endoscopic Ultrasound Systems. Canon Medical will develop and manufacture diagnostic ultrasound systems used in Endoscopic Ultrasonography1 (EUS), and Olympus will perform the sales and marketing efforts. The aim of this collaboration between Canon's Aplio i8002 diagnostic ultrasound system for EUS and Olympus' Ultrasound Endoscope3 is to provide the market with advanced EUS equipment capable of delivering high-quality image diagnoses. Canon Medical and Olympus are focusing on technological advancements and enhancing diagnostic performance in the EUS field, with plans for global expansion, starting in Japan and Europe.
Canon Medical has a history of more than 100 years in the diagnostic imaging systems business, including X-ray diagnostic systems, CT, MRI, and ultrasound diagnostic systems, and provides products and services to more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. Canon Medical has been a leading company in the development of diagnostic ultrasound systems since the 1960s and has pioneered the development of A-mode (Amplitude display mode) systems for neurosurgery and linear electronic scanning systems, among others. Canon Medical's strengths lie in its advanced ultrasound image quality and proprietary technologies, such as D-THI, an image quality enhancement technology, and SMI, an imaging technology that enables the delineation of extremely slow and fine blood flow, which has been difficult to image in the past.
Olympus has contributed to elevating the standard of care through early detection, diagnosis and staging, and minimally invasive treatment since developing the world’s first practical gastrocamera. In the field of EUS, Olympus has worked closely with physicians to develop new equipment to enhance imaging and diagnostic methods and expand procedures, helping gain and maintain a high share of the global market.
Through our collaboration, the two companies will achieve further qualitative improvements in the quality of images and performance in diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment of EUS, ultimately contributing to facilitate the early detection of diseases.
Comment from Toshio Takiguchi, President and CEO, Canon Medical Systems Corporation
“We have been promoting our business with diagnostic imaging at its core under the philosophy of 'Made for Life,' which expresses our desire to contribute to medical care that protects precious lives. We have a long history in diagnostic ultrasound systems and have developed unique technologies that contribute to the early detection of diseases in cooperation with doctors around the world. We are very pleased to collaborate with Olympus, a leading endoscope manufacturer, in the EUS field, which we have not been able to cover adequately until now, to deliver superior solutions to more patients.”
Comment from Frank Drewalowski, Executive Officer and Endoscopic Solutions Division Head, Olympus Corporation
“Olympus aims to improve patients’ quality of life through early diagnosis made available with Endoscopic Ultrasound Systems. In the field of EUS, diagnostic ultrasound systems are very important, and we are pleased to have a cooperative relationship with Canon Medical, which has advanced ultrasound imaging technology. Canon Medical and Olympus will continue to introduce products and technology that address the needs of the patients, healthcare professionals, and the broader medical industry.”
This examination uses ultrasound attached to the tip of an endoscope to observe the outer organs (pancreas, gallbladder, bile ducts, liver, etc.) from the stomach and duodenum. Compared to the approach from the body surface, the target organs can be observed at close range, allowing detailed diagnosis with clearer images. In the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, EUS is recognized as having the same diagnostic capability as contrast-enhanced CT and MRI in the "Guidelines for Pancreatic Cancer Treatment (2022)" in Japan. EUS-FNA (Endoscopic Ultrasonography-FNA: a test to collect tumor cells using an ultrasound endoscope) enables qualitative tissue diagnosis by minimally invasive cell and tissue collection and is established worldwide as a diagnostic method when pancreatic cancer is suspected. In addition to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), which is the first choice for stent placement for obstructive jaundice, endoscopic ultrasound-assisted biliary drainage (EUS-BD) using the EUS-FNA technique is now available. With the advent of these devices, the endoscopic treatment area of Interventional EUS has been attracting increasing attention in recent years.
About Canon Medical Systems
Canon Medical offers a full range of diagnostic medical imaging solutions including CT, Diagnostic and Interventional X-ray, Ultrasound and MR, as well as a full suite of Healthcare IT solutions, across the globe. In line with our continued Made for Life philosophy, patients are at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is to provide medical professionals with solutions that support their efforts in contributing to the health and wellbeing of patients worldwide. Our goal is to deliver optimum health opportunities for patients through uncompromised performance, comfort and safety features.
At Canon Medical, we work hand in hand with our partners - our medical, academic and research community. We build relationships based on transparency, trust and respect. Together as one, we strive to create industry-leading solutions that deliver an enriched quality of life
About Olympus
At Olympus, we are committed to Our Purpose of making people’s lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling. As a global medical technology company, we partner with healthcare professionals to provide best-in-class solutions and services for early detection, diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment, aiming to improve patient outcomes by elevating the standard of care in targeted disease states. For more than 100 years, Olympus has pursued a goal of contributing to society by producing products designed with the purpose of delivering optimal outcomes for its customers around the world.
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Health Technology
PureHealth | January 16, 2024
PureHealth, the largest healthcare platform in the Middle East, has announced the successful completion of its strategic acquisition of Circle Health Group, UK’s largest independent operators of hospitals, marking a significant milestone in the company's global expansion strategy. The completion of this deal, which has achieved regulatory approvals in record time, signifies PureHealth’s exceptional operational capabilities and commitment to international growth.
The completion of this transaction further strengthens PureHealth’s commitment to becoming a leading global player in healthcare. With a vision aligned with the UAE leadership to promote wellbeing and enhance healthcare services, PureHealth is dedicated to continuously improving patient experience and adopting the most advanced clinical practices. The company’s expansion into the UK healthcare market reflects its focus on advancing the science of longevity and unlocking time for humanity.
Hamad Al Hammadi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PureHealth, said: “We are pleased to complete the acquisition of Circle in record time. This remarkable achievement epitomises PureHealth's operational excellence and strategic adaptability in broadening its international impact. After investing in Ardent Health USA, this is PureHealth’s second international acquisition, and we look forward to building our portfolio internationally.”
Farhan Malik, Founder and Managing Director of PureHealth, commented: “Completing the acquisition of Circle is a strategic leap forward for PureHealth. This acquisition is more than an expansion; it's a significant stride towards establishing PureHealth as a global healthcare platform. We are not just investing in the future of healthcare; we are shaping it to be more connected, innovative, and accessible on a global scale. This move aligns with our vision of pioneering a healthier future for all and underscores our commitment to elevating the global position of Abu Dhabi in the healthcare sector and revolutionising healthcare services globally. We look forward to fostering long term partnerships within the UK’s healthcare ecosystem.”
Valued at c.USD 1.2 billion before debt, this acquisition marks a significant investment in the future of healthcare, positioning PureHealth at the forefront of international healthcare innovation and service provision.
Building upon this significant momentum, PureHealth is advancing its expansion strategy in 2024. This strategic vision includes not only acquisitions in locally, but also international markets building a global healthcare platform.
As PureHealth moves forward with its strategic global expansion, it remains committed to its mission of delivering unrivalled healthcare experiences through innovation, technology-driven solutions, and collaboration. This transaction not only enhances PureHealth's services and presence in the international healthcare landscape but also solidifies the company’s position as a leader in the healthcare industry, dedicated to improving lives and fostering healthier communities worldwide, and taking PureHealth from Abu Dhabi to the World.
About PureHealth
By advancing the Science of Longevity, PureHealth is introducing the healthcare of the future from the United Arab Emirates to the rest of the world. PureHealth is the largest healthcare platform in the Middle East with an ecosystem that challenges lifespans and reimagines health spans. With 25+ hospitals, 100+ clinics, multiple diagnostic centres, health insurance solutions, pharmacies, health tech, procurement, investments and more. With groundbreaking innovations at the forefront of healthcare, the company is on a mission to unlock time for humankind.
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Healthcare Analytics
SHL Medical | January 24, 2024
SHL Medical, a world-leading solutions provider of advanced drug delivery systems and SteriPack Group, renowned global supplier of secondary packing and final assembly services to the pharmaceutical industry, enter a non-exclusive strategic partnership. Together, they aim to establish a pre-validated final assembly service at the SteriPack facility in Poland, enhancing the overall flexibility of supply chain strategies for their customers. In addition to SHL Medical's existing final assembly, labeling, and packaging services in the United States, this collaboration extends high-quality CMO options to Europe.
Markus Puusepp, SHL Medical's Chief Growth Officer, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating "This partnership is a significant addition to the Molly® platform value proposition. We share common values with SteriPack, from focus on the customer to a commitment to quality, making the decision to collaborate straightforward."
Recognizing the importance of flexibility and time-to-market, especially in clinical production, the partnership with SteriPack will offer SHL Medical's customers highly flexible and personalized final assembly and packaging solutions. This is particularly beneficial for small batch handling in clinical supply and niche markets like rare diseases. Emphasizing the comprehensive capabilities of the Molly platform, SHL Medical aims to deliver right-sized solutions that ensure improved service, faster timelines, and a more streamlined supply chain for its diverse customer base.
John Ward, SteriPack Group's VP Pharmaceutical Solutions commented "SteriPack Group looks forward to supporting SHL Medical and their customers in providing quality and flexible solutions to a fast- moving market. With an emphasis on creating service solutions designed around specific customer requirements, this partnership will make the process of working with the Molly® platform an easy decision."
About SHL Medical
As a world-leading solutions provider of advanced drug delivery systems, SHL Medical is the partner of choice for many leading pharma and biotech companies. Driven by its company purpose – Enabling Patients' Independence – SHL Medical offers patient-centric solutions for the design, development, and manufacturing of autoinjectors, pen injectors, as well as innovative specialty delivery systems for large-volume and high-viscosity formulations. It also offers final assembly, labeling, and packaging solutions for its drug delivery systems.
In response to the rising trend in home therapy, SHL Medical has increased its developmental work in the digital healthcare sector to help improve the drug delivery ecosystem.
Located across Switzerland, Taiwan, Sweden, and the US, SHL Medical's global team of experts collaborate seamlessly as one team in utilizing its comprehensive in-house manufacturing capabilities. Its solutions offer customization and optimization for each project while proactively weaving sustainability-driven measures into its designs and processes to contribute to a cleaner earth.
About SteriPack Group
SteriPack Group is a globally renowned contract packing and manufacturing organisation serving the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors respectively. With a strong emphasis on innovation, quality and compliance, SteriPack's services to the pharmaceutical industry include device design and development, final assembly, labelling, secondary packing, serialisation and aggregation of injectable formats including vials, pre-filled syringes, and autoinjectors.
SteriPack's tailored customer-focused solutions make it an ideally suited supplier for small to medium-sized batch volumes required for a growing market of targeted therapies as well as clinical trials. Its proven capabilities in cleanroom assembly and labelling as well as secondary packing services for drug delivery systems and medical devices, combined with significant investment into growing cold chain storage capacity, have helped to make it a trusted partner to top global pharmaceutical companies.
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