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Health systems and hospitals across the US have been rolling out artificial intelligence tools to help doctors with administrative tasks like taking notes, coding visits, and responding to patients’ emails. But they’ve been slower to adopt AI to transform the medical care they deliver to patients. That’s despite the fact that the FDA has authorized close to 1,000 AI tools for clinical use, such as imaging. One reason is they lack the technology and budget, according to Pelu Tran, founder and CEO of AI platform Ferrum Health. Hospitals are also concerned with cybersecurity issues and whether they can trust AI tools, which may suffer from bias. The startup, which raised $16 million in September in a round led by Foundry, is a marketplace for health systems to be able to deploy different clinical AI tools across their patient populations at a fraction of the cost and effort, Tran said. Tran previously co-founded the AI clinical documentation company Augmedix, which was sold to General Catalyst-backed Commure for $139 million . But these days, he’s more interested in helping hospitals use AI to improve care and better diagnose illnesses, because he said that’s where AI has the biggest potential to have an impact on patients and costs. “The fact that we aren’t using those tools in day-to-day patient care in the overwhelming majority of patients, I think that’s actually just a massive problem,” Tran said. Increasingly, AI models are emerging that are smaller, more customized and fine-tuned for specific uses, compared with more generalized models from massive AI providers like Google and OpenAI. But those smaller models still require graphics processing units (GPUs) used for computing, and infrastructure that most hospitals don’t have, in part because that infrastructure is so expensive. It takes a hospital at least half a million dollars to turn on each additional AI model, he said. “They don’t have the ability to integrate massive amounts of patient records into every single point solution that they want to use,” Tran said. “Hospital IT organizations can’t be managing five, 10, 20 different AI models themselves.” That’s where Ferrum wants to come in. Instead of a hospital system managing contracts and data integration with 10 different vendors, Ferrum provides a single platform, one contract, one point of IT support and one integration with hospitals’ various patient data sources. Ferrum also helps ensure that the AI tools are reliable and secure, validating them before hospitals ever use them. The startup is being used by prominent health systems like Sutter Health. Its biggest competition has been AI companies selling directly to hospitals, but Tran said that’s starting to change as health systems realize they need platforms to address all the challenges around costs, security and safety. (This story is from our Health Tech newsletter. If you’d like to sign up, just click here .)

Maven Clinic laid off 60 people on Monday, Endpoints News has learned. The layoffs at the unicorn health tech startup represented about 10% of its workforce and happened across the organization, according to three people familiar with the matter. They come just three weeks after Maven raised a $125 million Series F round at a $1.7 billion valuation. “This decision was not taken lightly and it was one I never hoped to make. It may feel surprising to some after the recent fundraising announcement,” CEO Kate Ryder wrote to employees Monday in an email reviewed by Endpoints. A spokesperson for Maven didn’t dispute the email. The New York-based startup provides support for women’s health and family health needs from pregnancy to menopause, selling to health plans and employers. Founded in 2014, Maven has raised over $425 million to date from heavyweights such as Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Oak HC/FT and Lux Capital. These appear to be Maven’s first layoffs. Maven’s spokesperson confirmed the job cuts. “As we look ahead to Maven’s next chapter, this was an important step in realigning our cost and organizational structure to focus our investments on the areas that will most effectively advance our mission,” the spokesperson told Endpoints in a statement. “We have deep gratitude to all Maven colleagues who are leaving the organization.” While its peers in health tech and women’s health struggled with an industry-wide slump following a pandemic-era business boom, Maven has continued to rake in money from investors. The startup raised a $110 million Series D round in 2021, then another $90 million Series E round in 2022. Maven has continued to gain traction since. It says it serves over 2,000 clients, including Microsoft, AT&T and Morgan Stanley. Most recently, Amazon dropped fertility benefits competitor Progyny for Maven’s services, according to a source familiar with the arrangement. (This story is from our Health Tech newsletter. If you’d like to sign up, just click here .)

Financing led by Novo Holdings, RA Capital Management, Royalty Pharma, SR One, and TPG Life Sciences Innovations, with participation from 16 additional new and existing investors Proceeds will be used, in part, to establish Ph3 and commercial-scale GMP manufacturing capacity that will accelerate clinical development and provide global support for a growing portfolio of programs with existing and emerging partners BOSTON, Oct. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Elektrofi, Inc., a biopharmaceutical delivery technology company focused on improving the patient experience and expanding access to life-changing medicines through the freedom of self-administration, today announced the closing of an upsized and oversubscribed $112.25M Series C financing. The financing was co-led by Novo Holdings, RA Capital Management, Royalty Pharma, SR One, and TPG Life Sciences Innovations, with participation from Eli Lilly and Company. Other premier new and existing life sciences investors participated, including Braidwell LP, BVF, Catalio Capital Management, Checkpoint Capital, Deep Track Capital, General Catalyst, Janus Henderson Investors, Kearny Venture Partners, Logos Capital, Marshall Wace, Paradigm BioCapital, Samsara Biocapital, Woodline Partners LP, and an investment fund associated with Leerink Partners. Proceeds from the financing will support the establishment of Ph3 and commercial-scale GMP manufacturing lines. The addition of this capacity to the Company's first GMP line, which is expected to be operational for clinical manufacturing in early 2025, will enable current and future programs to move quickly from inception to launch. "At Elektrofi, we envision a world in which patients have the independence they need – around how and where they take their medications – to live life on their terms," said Chase Coffman, CEO. "The industry is on the cusp of a drug delivery revolution, and Elektrofi is proud to be leading it with Hypercon™, a broadly applicable platform for the hyper concentration and stabilization of biopharmaceuticals. With our team of industry experts, distinguished Board Directors, world-class investors, and pharma partners, we look forward to scaling our proprietary technology in the interest of bringing life-changing medicines to patients across the globe as quickly as possible." About Elektrofi Elektrofi is a biopharmaceutical formulation technology company that is revolutionizing the delivery of biologic therapies by giving patients the ability to control how they want to receive and benefit from life-changing medicines. Our breakthrough hyper concentrated microparticle technology platform, Hypercon™, resolves the limitations associated with intravenously delivered biologic therapies by enabling convenient at-home subcutaneous self-administration. With a focus on monoclonal antibodies, therapeutic proteins, and other large molecule drugs, we create, develop, and commercialize subcutaneous biologic therapies in collaboration with strategic partners. We believe a patient-centered healthcare approach can lead to a healthier world. We are headquartered in Boston and innovate globally. Formulating the Future of Biologics™ Elektrofi Media Inquiries: [email protected] SOURCE Elektrofi WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED