Tag: Digital Health

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Digital Health MedTech

Europe MedTech & Digital Health Weekly Brief (Week of August 30–September 5, 2025, #5)

Hospitals want evidence, investors want traction: this week mixed the two: GI diagnostics, insulin delivery, genomics M&A. And sprinkled in fresh CE marks for surgical robots.

People on the move

Data4Life (DE), a digital health nonprofit backed by SAP founder, Hasso Plattner, appoints Dr. Ben Illigens as CEO to steer its health data and research initiatives. Data4Life is building open source platform Data2Evidence, which is based on the international OMOP data model.

“We are at a turning point where digital technologies are fundamentally transforming research and care. My goal is to strengthen Data4Life as a bridge between clinical research, technology, and practice,”
Dr. Ben Illigens.

Lottie (UK): George Hadjigeorgiou, cofounder of ZOE, a personalized nutrition health company, joins the board of Lottie as NED, signaling deeper crossover between consumer health and eldercare ops. Lottie is a UK’s marketplace for care homes and care services.

Money flows

Kaleido Insulin Pump visualisation - Source: https://hellokaleido.com/

ViCentra (NL) — $85M Series D; insulin patch pump maker (Kaleido) fuels next-gen device development and scale-up.  Round was led by new investor Innovation Industries, a leading European deeptech venture capital firm, with matching participation from existing investors Partners in Equity and Invest-NL, alongside continued support from EQT Life Sciences and Health Innovations.

Cyted Health (UK) — €37.5M Series B; GI molecular diagnostics to improve early detection and prevention of oesophageal cancer. Round aims to expand US commercialization while consolidating NHS footprint. Investment led by EQT Life Sciences, Advent Life Sciences and British Business Bank with continued support from existing investors Morningside and BGF.

ArcaScience (FR): $7M round led by The Moon Venture; AI “benefit–risk” intelligence platform for life-sciences R&D to clean, link and query messy evidence.

Aiomics (DE) — €2M pre-Seed; clinical-grade AI agents to reduce clinical documentation burden and improve care pathways.

M2Care (FR): €26M venture-studio raise from Bpifrance’s FTA2 fund to create/develop eight healthtech projects. Other investors in M2Care are Mérieux Développement (who actully created this incubator), Institut NAOS des Sciences de la Vie, Crédit Agricole Centre-Est. 

SeqOne (FR) aquired Congenica (UK), on undisclosed terms.
This merger creates a larger AI-powered genomics software group with strong UK presence.

On the press

One thing to remember

Evidence-first commercialisation is back: capital flowed to diagnostics and chronic-care delivery while robotics snagged CE marks. A cross-border genomics deal underlined that European buyers will pay for software that shortens time-to-impact. If you’re fundraising, pair outcomes data with a path to multi-market reimbursement; if you’re buying, look for software that accelerates clinical workflows, not just visibility.

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Digital Health MedTech

Pharma’s Quantum Bet: Can Qubits Fix Drug R&D’s 90% Failure Rate

Quantum computing in pharma drug discovery R&D

The Promise

Pharma spends billions on R&D only to see 90% of drug candidates fail in trials. At the heart of the problem: chemistry is a quantum system, but we’ve been simulating it with classical approximations. Quantum computing, in principle, can simulate molecules and protein folding with physics-native precision, potentially cutting years and billions from discovery pipelines.

The Reality

We are not about to quantum-simulate an entire antibody. Today’s quantum machines remain noisy, small, and fragile. The most credible progress has come from hybrid models, where quantum handles a computational bottleneck and classical HPC does the rest. For example:

  • Cleveland Clinic & IBM: Predicted Zika virus protein fragments more accurately than AlphaFold using a hybrid quantum-classical framework (Cleveland Clinic).
  • Japan Tobacco & D-Wave: Used quantum annealing to train generative AI, producing more “drug-like” molecules than classical methods (MedPath).
  • Biogen & Accenture: Quantum-enabled molecular comparison delivered richer structural insights than classical screening (Accenture).

Each success is narrow, but collectively they show a pragmatic pattern: don’t replace classical, augment it.

The European Edge

Europe is well-positioned. Startups like Pasqal (France) are already running protein hydration analyses on neutral-atom quantum computers (Qubit Pharmaceuticals). The Quantum Technologies Flagship (€1bn over 10 years) funds such projects (EU Commission). Combined with Horizon Europe grants and EuroHPC’s hybrid supercomputers, pharma here has access to sovereign infrastructure and public co-funding that US peers often lack.

Strategic Takeaway

For European pharma and biotech:

  • Think long-term: validated drug design use cases are 5–15 years out (Roche).
  • Back hybrids: near-term ROI lies in workflows where quantum complements AI, not replaces it.
  • Partner early: collaborations with quantum startups and HPC centres are essential to de-risk.

Quantum won’t cure R&D inefficiency overnight. But when 9 in 10 candidates still fail, even a narrow, validated quantum edge could mean the difference between another failed trial and Europe’s next blockbuster drug.

This content has been enhanced with GenAI tools.

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Digital Health MedTech

Europe MedTech & Digital Health — Weekly Brief (Week of August 23–29, 2025, #4)

OrganOx metra transport. Source: OrganOx website

This week’s highlights: a landmark UK medtech exit, a €403 million EU funding boost for AI-powered devices, and strategic momentum building across Europe for medtech commercialization. Otherwise it seems we are on annual leave.

People on the move

No newly reported high-level hires, board moves, or fund leadership changes in the European medtech/digital health sector this week.

Money flows

One thing to remember

Founders: now is the time to align innovation pipelines with EU priorities—combine clinical validation and AI integration with a clear path to strategic M&A to attract both Brussels funding and corporate buyers.

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Digital Health

Quantum Computing in Healthcare: Breakthrough or Expensive Distraction?

Quantum Computing in Healthcare - IBM Quantum One in Cleveland Clinic.
Quantum Computing in Healthcare - IBM Quantum One in Cleveland Clinic. Source: Cleveland Clinic

Quantum computing is the latest shiny object in healthcare IT. Headlines trumpet its ability to solve the unsolvable, to accelerate drug discovery, and to personalise medicine at a level classical AI can only dream of. The reality, however, is a little noisier, literally. In 2025, we are firmly in what researchers call the NISQ era. NISQ stands for Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum, where machines are powerful but error-prone, and purely quantum solutions remain more PowerPoint than product.

Why the Hype?

The hype is not entirely misplaced. Biology and chemistry are inherently quantum systems. Simulating how a drug molecule interacts with a protein is not just hard for classical supercomputers; it’s unnatural. Classical methods rely on approximations. Quantum computers, in theory, model these interactions directly. That’s why pharma giants are experimenting: Cleveland Clinic has an IBM Quantum System One installed on-site, the first dedicated to healthcare. Early results show hybrid quantum-classical workflows can outperform DeepMind’s AlphaFold on narrow protein-folding tasks.

Why the Reality Check?

The breakthroughs so far are niche, fragile, and deeply dependent on clever hybridisation with classical HPC. A systematic review of nearly 5,000 research papers (2015–2024) found no consistent evidence that quantum machine learning currently beats classical methods for healthcare. Many proofs of concept run in “noiseless simulations” that collapse when ported to real hardware. And the qubit counts remain too low for practical drug-scale simulations.

Even in genomics, often billed as the killer app for quantum computing, the maths doesn’t add up. Encoding billions of data points into qubits introduces overhead that wipes out theoretical speedups. For now, Europe’s quantum advantage is likely to remain incremental: narrow use cases, tightly scoped, with the real value in hybrid algorithms.

Why Europe Must Care Now: Security

The most immediate and non-negotiable issue is not discovery but security. A sufficiently powerful quantum machine will break today’s public-key cryptography (RSA, ECC). Healthcare is especially exposed, with decades-long data sensitivity. The threat isn’t theoretical, it’s already here. Adversaries are harvesting encrypted medical data today, betting on decrypting it later (“Harvest Now, Decrypt Later”). The US NIST has finalised post-quantum cryptography standard (CRYSTALS-Kyber, CRYSTALS-Dilithium) in 2024. GDPR’s mandate for “appropriate technical measures” means EU hospitals, medtech, and pharma firms will have to migrate.

Strategic Takeaway

Quantum computing in healthcare is not snake oil, but nor is it a silver bullet. In the short term, Europe’s smartest bets are twofold:

  • Defensive: Migrate to post-quantum cryptography before Y2Q arrives.
  • Pragmatic: Invest in hybrid models where quantum adds value to a specific pain point, not the whole pipeline.

Quantum may indeed change healthcare. But for now, the winning strategy is less “revolution at the bedside” and more “upgrade in the back office.” The future belongs to those who can separate signal from quantum noise.

This content has been enhanced with GenAI.

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Digital Health MedTech

Europe MedTech & Digital Health — Weekly Brief (Week of Aug 16–22, 2025, #3)

AI meets approvals, mental health consolidates, and early-stage device builders get fuel — a tidy week for cardiology/ophthalmology AI, workflow rollouts, and surgical tools.

People on the move

CMR Surgical: Chris O’Hara joins as Commercial President & GM (U.S.) to drive Versius robot expansion following FDA authorization; signals Cambridge-based CMR’s acceleration of global go-to-market. Mr. O’Hara brings experience at Intuitive Surgical (a company that builds DaVinci that Versius robot is challenging) and Globus Medical (specialists in spine sugery devices), his appointment is a strategic bet from CMR Surgical.

Money flows

Nami Surgical (Glasgow, UK): $10M, Series A (opened); developing a mini ultrasonic scalpel for robotic surgery. Proceeds support product development and commercialization prep. Tech from Nami addresses a critical unmet need in the field. Ultrasonic scalpels, which use high-frequency vibrations to simultaneously cut tissue and cauterise blood vessels, are indispensable tools in modern minimally invasive surgery. What they have is 90% smaller than available competitors.

Mindler (Sweden) acquires ieso Digital Health UK on undisclosed terms; creates a cross-border digital mental health platform spanning Nordics & UK buyers (employers, insurers, public payers). As there is an urgent need to address crisis of mental health and lack of (human) specialists, platforms such us Mindler and ieso are indispensable.  Mindler is acquiring only ieso’s UK-based telecare services business, which is responsible for direct patient care delivery to the NHS. The parent company, ieso, will remain an independent entity pivoting to focus on the development and commercialisation of its evidence-based clinical AI platform, Velora, with an initial focus on the US market.

On the press

• ZEISS lands CE mark for CIRRUS PathFinder: integrated AI decision-support for OCT that flags abnormal macular B-scans and improves OCTA visualization; EU-ready software update/licence.

• Femasys secures UK MHRA approval for FemBloc: non-surgical, in-office permanent contraception; follows the company’s recent CE mark and advances European commercialization.

• Affidea x Skin Analytics: pan-European partnership to deploy Class III CE-marked AI dermatology (DERM – Deep Ensemble for the Recognition of Malignancy) across sites, starting in Romania and Lithuania with Greece next.

One thing to remember The EU’s AI-in-diagnostics momentum is real: new CE/MHRA greenlights (ZEISS, FemBloc) are pairing with deployment deals (Affidea × Skin Analytics), while funding still finds focused hardware/robotics and safety wearables (Nami Surgical, SIT). Founders: bring regulatory-grade proof and a crisp rollout plan.

This content has been enhanced with GenAI tools.

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Digital Health MedTech

Europe MedTech & Digital Health — Weekly Brief (Week of Aug 9–15, 2025, #2)

A crisp week: AI diagnostics raised, sports concussion wearables funded, a Dutch conversational-AI startup got scooped up, and the UK nudged its devices policy closer to home care.

People on the move

Jade Leung - a new UK Prime Minister AI Adviser. Source: Linkedin

Jade Leung has been appointed as the UK’s Prime Minister’s AI Adviser while continuing as CTO at the AI Safety Institute; expect ripple effects on health AI policy and procurement.

Tom Moore - President and CEO of Minze Health

Thomas Moore named President & CEO of Minze Health to scale digital urology diagnostics/therapeutics across EU and the US.

Money flows

Sports Impact Technologies (Ireland): €650K Pre-Seed for behind-the-ear concussion-detection wearable; beta with athletes kicks off in September, full launch targeted for 2026.

Better Medicine (Estonia): €1M Pre-Seed to expand CE-certified AI for kidney cancer detection, fund EU rollout and FDA-aligned pilots.

VentriJect (Denmark) — €1.7M (round type undisclosed) to scale its cardiorespiratory fitness monitoring device (SEISMOfit) and push commercialization.

HOPCo × Caro Health (the Netherlands) — Amsterdam’s conversational-AI health startup Caro Health acquired by US-based HOPCo; Caro’s team to expand HOPCo’s European digital division and integrate across products.

On the press

Automated insulin delivery — Utrecht’s ViCentra says its next-gen closed-loop Kaleido system is slated for a Europe launch next year, signaling more AID competition on the continent.

UK devices policy — MHRA opens a stakeholder survey on the Health Institution Exemption (HIE), floating extensions to community/home use and tighter PMS/governance—practical for hospital “in-house” SaMD/device teams.

Macro: Italy watch — New data show Italy’s tech funding momentum; healthtech has already raised ~$126M in 2025, underlining ongoing digital health demand.

One thing to remember

AI-heavy workflow tools are getting their first cheques (imaging, concussion safety) while cross-border consolidation (Caro→HOPCo) accelerates go-to-market—set against a UK policy tweak that could legitimize more hospital-built software/devices beyond the hospital walls. If you’re raising: show path to deployment (pilots, CE status) and a plan for integration into care pathways.


This content has been enhanced with GenAI tools.

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Digital Health MedTech

Poland’s healthtech has outgrown ‘nearshore’: 10 products and 10 global hubs

A network of interconnected digital health hubs in Poland, showcasing advanced healthtech and pharma IT innovations with professionals collaborating in futuristic environments.

Stop calling Poland a nearshore

Poland isn’t just shipping code for someone else’s roadmap. It’s producing digital health products used by tens of millions, and it’s hosting serious pharma/biotech tech operations—not just shared services. If you still think of it as a low‑cost back office, you’re reading a 2015 brochure.

Poland healthtech at a glance

MetricSnapshotSource
Healthcare marketPLN 191bn (~$52bn) (2023); projected 8.3% CAGR (2023–2028)Strategy& 2024
Medtech market (CEE)$11bn, largest in CEE; projected $13.8bnPAIH MedTech
Digital railsIKP, e‑Prescription (mandatory since 8 Jan 2020), e‑Referral (mandatory 2021)CeZ, e‑Rx analysis, policy
Enterprise hubs10+ pharma/medtech hubs (Roche, GSK, Bayer, Moderna, Astellas, BI, GEHC, Philips, Fresenius, AZ)Examples and links below

Polish products to watch (scale & potential)

CompanyWhat it doesScale / tractionMarkets & notes
DocplannerMarketplace + SaaS for clinics80m patients/month, 260k active doctors, 22m bookings/mo, 13 countriesEntered DACH via jameda acquisition
InfermedicaAI symptom‑to‑triage & intake86% user satisfaction; 76% intent to follow guidanceUsed by payers incl. Techniker Krankenkasse
DiagnostykaDiagnostics network1,100+ collection points, 156 labs; PLN 1.6bn revenue (2023); IPO priced at PLN 105; debut 7 Feb 2025Reuters
LabplusAutomated lab‑result interpretationIntegrated with leading labs incl. Diagnostyka partnershipB2B/API model across lab networks
CardiomaticsAI for Holter/long‑term ECGCE‑marked; clinician time savings reportedStudy overview
StethoMeAI‑enabled home stethoscopeCE‑marked lung‑sound analysis; remote respiratory careDeployed in telehealth programmes
AioCareConnected spirometryValidated in primary carePubMed
Saventic HealthAI for rare‑disease detectionEU roll‑out; €1.9m funding (2024)EU‑Startups
BrainScanAI for brain CT (stroke/trauma)2024 expansion across EMEAIndustry coverage
Jutro MedicalAI‑first hybrid primary care€12m Series A (2025) to expand EUEU‑Startups

Enterprise gravity: big pharma/medtech tech now runs through Poland

CompanyCityWhat happens hereScale (where stated)Source
RocheWarsaw & PoznańGlobal IT Solution Centre; Regional Clinical Trials Centre; Global Procurement Hub1,250+ employees in PolandRoche Poland
GSKWarsaw & PoznańGlobal Regulatory Centre; global trials coordination; Tech/Cyber600+ employeesGSK Poland footprint 2024
BayerWarsawDigital Hub building data platforms & productsup to 400 IT roles plannedAnnouncement, Hub page
ModernaWarsawInternational Business Services (finance, PV, HR, digital)~160 roles targetPress release
AstellasWarsawGlobal Capability Centre (2025)New hubLeadership news
Boehringer IngelheimWrocławGlobal Business Services centreLaunched 2022GBS page
GE HealthCareKrakówCommand Center software developmentPlatform in 290+ hospitalsGEHC Command Center
PhilipsŁódźGlobal Business Services hubOne of 7 global hubsPhilips GBS
Fresenius (FDT & FMC)WrocławDigital Technology & GBS hub for EMEAScaling teamsFresenius DT Poland,
AstraZenecaWarsawGlobal Clinical Trials CentrePart of AZ’s global networkAZ Poland

Why Poland now (and why it matters for commercialisation)

  • Public digital rails are in place. e‑Prescription has been mandatory since 8 January 2020; e‑Referrals became mandatory in 2021. The national P1 platform under Centrum e‑Zdrowia (CeZ) powers services like IKP/mojeIKP across the system.
  • Talent density × EU proximity. A deep engineering pool with multinationals co‑locating product and data teams in Warsaw/Poznań lowers integration costs across EMEA.
  • Export DNA. Docplanner’s acquisition of jameda shows a practical route: build in Poland, expand via M&A into regulated EU markets to accelerate trust and supply‑side liquidity.

Quick Q&A: for operators and investors

Is Poland still just a ‘nearshore’ play? No. Platform leaders (Docplanner, Infermedica) and 10+ pharma/medtech hubs now concentrate product‑adjacent work in Poland: engineering, data, regulator not only SSC/BPO.

What’s the biggest commercial bottleneck domestically? Limited, inconsistent NFZ pathways for digital health; most early revenue is private pay or export. Limited purchasing power within market. Treat Poland as an R&D and proof‑of‑value market; monetise in DACH/UK.

Best route to scale across Europe? Build MDR‑ready from day one, localise for DE/IT/ES, and consider controlled M&A to enter regulated markets (see Docplanner → jameda).

What metrics matter? Adoption proxies (e.g., Infermedica’s satisfaction and intent to follow guidance), conversion to appropriate care, reduced waiting time, and clinician time saved.

Playbook for founders and operators

  • Build for export from day one. Multilingual, MDR‑ready, and priced for DACH/UK.
  • Piggyback on the hubs. Partner with Roche/GSK/Bayer/Moderna teams locally for pilots, data pipelines, or co‑dev—your buyer is often already in Warsaw.
  • Measure what matters. Track adherence, conversion to appropriate care, and time‑to‑diagnosis—Infermedica’s adoption proxies are a good template (2024 data).

Bottom line

Poland isn’t Europe’s healthtech subcontractor anymore. It’s a product‑making, enterprise‑integrated node.
The smart money will treat Warsaw and Poznań as launchpads, not low‑cost destinations.

This content has been enhanced with GenAI tools.

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Digital Health MedTech

Europe MedTech & Digital Health Weekly Brief #1

(Week of Aug 2–8, 2025)

August might be peak out-of-office, but Europe’s medtech builders didn’t pack it in. Cardiology AI is scaling, workflow AI is cutting admin drag, and evidence-backed devices are crossing borders.

People

    Marta Gaia Zanchi, Founding Partner at Nina Capital, Source: Nina Capital

    Investor POV:
    Marta Gaia Zanchi, Founding Partner at Nina Capital, speaking on healthtech hype vs. reality—data moats, regulatory timing, and evidence as currency shaping founder and LP conversations.

    Money flows

      Ross Upton, Ultromics Founder and CEO. Source: Ultromics.com

      Ultromics raised  $55M for AI cardiology diagnostics — Oxford-based echocardiography AI scaling decision support for earlier detection and heart failure insights across NHS/EU care.
      Listen to this interview with Ultromics Founder and CEO Ross Upton.

      SNIPR Biome logo. Source: SNIPRBiome website.

      SNIPR Biome gets €35M injection to advance CRISPR therapies for antimicrobial resistance. In this round there are new backers such as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the German Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation (SPRIN-D)


      Oliver Åstrand, CTO; Oscar Boldt-Christmas, CCO; Lukas Saari, CEO; Founders of Tandem Health. Source: www.tandemhealth.ai

      Tandem Health secures $50M to build an AI-native operating system for clinical workflows across Europe.

      On the press

        One thing to remember

        In 2025 Europe, the fastest route from “cool demo” to “signed contract” is evidence-backed AI or devices that save clinician time and improve outcomes.

        Founders: design for clinical workflows, not just pilots; document outcomes and time-saved like it’s your superpower; pair dilutive with non-dilutive where it speeds trials and procurement.

        Investors: back teams converting regulatory readiness and real-world evidence into purchase orders—and keep an eye on AI companions where engagement meets adherence. Europe’s healthtech summer is quiet but compounding.

        This content has been enhanced with GenAI tools.

        Categories
        Digital Health MedTech

        Why SaMD Launches Fail in Europe

        Common Pitfalls

        1. Vague intended use leading to misclassification
        2. No QMS or weak cybersecurity
        3. Poor clinical evidence strategy
        4. Failure to engage clinicians or users

        Fixes:

        • Start regulatory early
        • Build real clinical value
        • Design with adoption in mind

        Learn more at Scaling MedTech: From Product to Market

        This post is part of SaMD Europe Launch Guide.

        This content has been enhanced by GenAI tools.

        Categories
        Digital Health MedTech

        Investment Trends in European Digital Health

        Where Capital Flows

        Investors favor:

        • AI-powered platforms
        • Value-based care tools
        • Female health (menopause, hormones)

        Valuation Benchmarks:

        • 4–6x revenue for most healthtech
        • 6–8x for AI/diagnostics
        • 10–14x EV/EBITDA for EBITDA-positive firms

        Learn more at Scaling MedTech: From Product to Market

        This post is part of SaMD Europe Launch Guide.

        This content has been enhanced by GenAI tools.