#75 🍩 What the Health - Aussie $2.5bn acquisition, $15m for longevity & US health spend hits $8.6T
Whats happening in health tech & innovation?
Hello friends,
What a week it’s been!
Kiss cams, crazy pharma sales, longevity and tariffs. It sure is a wild time to be alive.
Anyway, if you’re keen to learn some fun things about companies actually succeeding and how to avoid a (healthtech) scandal…
You should come along to our WTH Private Community webinar next week that we’re opening up to everyone thanks to the good folks at Vanta 💜
Ft. the epic Everlab, who just announced their latest funding round, Instant Scripts, and more coming soon!
Keen?
🍩 TODAY’S ISSUE
Newsworthy
Sick Science
AI Updates
Startup Stuff
Events
Cool Content
Brought to you with … 💜 Vanta
Founder to Founder: The Guide to Building a Breakout Startup in the AI AgeWhat’s it take to build a breakout startup in this fast-moving, AI Age?
Christina Cacioppo (CEO & Co-founder of Vanta) & Mario Gabriele (CEO & Founder of The Generalist) come together for a tactical deep-dive into what it truly takes. In a market evolving at breakneck speed, they share sharp insights and real-world strategies for staying ahead of the curve.
💜 Heidi Health
👀 Be the first to know: Heidi is quietly hiring a Product Marketer 💼Clinician background? You’re who we want.
Help launch AI that’s changing healthcare - fast, high-impact, zero fluff. 🚀
Want to get featured here in front of >9500 health-loving legends?
Shoot us a note for ad placement & partnership opportunities.
Noteworthy 🗞️
Funding
🔬ViceBio, a UQ spinout developing vaccines for 2 respiratory viruses using its “molecular clamp” tech, is being acquired by Sanofi in a deal worth $2.5bn
The vaccine candidates are for RSV and hMPV and ViceBio will recieve US$1.15bn upfront with US$450M in milestone
🧬 Everlab raised $15M to expand its preventative health platform, which uses diagnostics & automation to help detect and manage early signs of chronic disease
Having analysed >1M biomarkers through full-body health tests, with 25% showing abnormal results & 2.5% uncovering serious conditions like blocked arteries, GI tumours, early cancers, & brain abnormalities
💰 Brandon BioCatalyst, Biointelect, & ANDHealth each snagged ~$33M of $100M in MRFF grants to help Aussie startups bring digital & AI health innovations to market
🧪 Lumos inked a US$317M deal with PHASE Scientific to exclusively distribute its FebriDx test in the US, aiming to bring rapid bacterial–viral infection diagnostics to the frontlines
💸 Kashcade secured a $50M warehouse facility from Wingate & Fancourt to scale R&D tax lending, 2xing its loan book & boosting capital access for Aussie startups
Newsworthy
🧠 Mental health claims, driven by stress, burnout, & PTSD among young people, have surged to $2.2bn, now making up ~ 1/2 of all life insurance payouts in Aus
💊 Donald Trump flagged tariffs of up to 200% on pharmaceuticals & 50% on copper, pressuring manufacturers to shift to the US & threatening key Aussie exports
🏥 Healthscope proposes to restructure as an NFP to avoid payroll tax & prevent closures, pitching the plan to lenders as an alternative to a private buyer breakup
💰 General Atlantic hired Greenhill & Record Point to explore a $1Bn sale of Aussie aged & disability care platform Mable
🤖 Health NZ officially endorses AI scribes Heidi Health & iMedX after national privacy & algorithm reviews, cutting average note-taking time from 17 to 4 mins in pilot sites
🤝Australian Unity will acquire Plena Healthcare for $70M, expanding its Home Health business to >160k customers & 4.5M hours of care annually
📱 HotDoc paused its telehealth pilot & apologised after backlash from clinics, admitting it failed to consult widely enough before offering on-demand GP via its platform
📉 Women-only startups in Aus raised <0.5% of all funding in Q2 2025, a record low, despite the broader ecosystem showing signs of recovery
🎓 The ARC awarded $114.6M to 100 mid-career researchers through the 2025 Future Fellowships, backing projects in AI, biotech, energy, & more
🧠 A Brisbane neurosurgeon remotely guided emergency skull surgery & saved a life via new video tech, the 1st time this system’s been used in a public hospital
🚭 Aussie teens are vaping less, with rates falling from 17.5% to 14.6% since the 2024 ban on disposable vapes, alongside a drop in curiosity & >10M illegal vapes seized
🧑⚕️Solara Health launched Skye, a patient engagement platform for patients’ hospital care
📺 Longevity spending is booming in Melbourne ft. heaps of new clubs, making the old school news
🧴 The TGA recommended sunscreen brands reduce levels of homosalate & oxybenzone due to potential hormone & skin risks, prompting reformulation
📉 Gov-funded jobs, particularly in health & care sectors like the NDIS, make up 80% of employment growth & are dragging down Aus’s productivity to 2016 levels
US & Beyond Borders
💸 US health spending is set to hit $8.6T by 2033, growing faster than GDP & projected to make up over 20% of the entire economy
& at the same time, Americans now spend more on health care than food or housing, as rising costs & chronic illness make it the biggest household expense
🧬 UK scientists used a 3-person IVF technique to prevent 8 children from inheriting mitochondrial diseases by transferring parents’ DNA into donor eggs with healthy mitochondria
🦄 Telehealth scored a rare bipartisan win in the US, with permanent pre-deductible coverage under high-deductible health plans now approved by Congress
🇬🇧 The NHS has been told to cut overseas-trained doctor recruitment from 34% to > 10%, prioritising UK graduates as part of a 10-year plan to reduce reliance on foreign medics
🐭 NIH will no longer fund animal-only studies, pushing researchers to include modern alternatives like AI & organs-on-chips
🧪 Amazon India launched at-home diagnostic testing in 6 cities, offering 800+ tests with sample collection in <60 mins & results in as little as 6 hours via the Amazon app
⚖️ The FDA warned Whoop over its new blood pressure feature, saying it needs medical device approval, but Whoop argues it’s just a wellness tool
🧑⚕️ Google launched a Consumer Health Advisory Panel of external experts to provide clinical & scientific guidance for their health tech
🍁 Hims & Hers will launch in Canada in 2026 alongside the first global release of generic semaglutide, but is also facing a potential class action from shareholders
🤖 AI Updates
📈 Rock Health H1 2025 report shows AI-enabled digital health startups captured 62% of the $6.4 B raised, fuelling mega rounds, IPOs, & brisk M&A as the market matures
🧬 Google released MedGemma 27B Multimodal & MedSigLIP, open-source models that interpret both text & medical images
MedGemma 27B scored 87.7% on MedQA & matched radiologist-quality X-ray reports 81% of the time
⚖️ The US Senate scrapped plans for a federal AI regulation moratorium, opening the door to 50 different rulebooks & major compliance headaches for healthcare AI
🏭 CB Insights reckons Eli Lilly is the most AI-ready pharma, as top companies invest in automation, internal LLMs, & oncology partnerships to mitigate a looming $236 B patent cliff
🤖 KPMG & Hippocratic AI partnered to deploy AI healthcare agents to handle non-diagnostic clinical tasks, to ease global staffing shortages & improve care efficiency
🧠 Lyra Health acquired Bend Health to expand its family mental health offering by adding neuropsych testing & high-acuity youth care to address the growing pediatric mental health crisis better
Sick Science
🧠 Can APOE ε4 be the key to understanding brain diseases?
Researchers from the Global Neurodegeneration Proteomics Consortium studied over 11k samples from people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson’s, ALS, & FTD. They found that those with the APOE ε4 gene shared a similar immune response across all these conditions. This immune signature involved increased activity in immune cells like monocytes & T cells, suggesting APOE ε4 plays a broader role in brain degeneration, regardless of the disease.
🫀 AI can find heart disease on an ECG?
Researchers from Columbia & NYP trained an AI model called EchoNext on 1.2M ECG–echo pairs to detect structural heart disease. The model outperformed cardiologists in spotting conditions like valve disease & heart failure, with an AUROC of 85% across diverse hospitals & patient groups. In a clinical trial, it flagged high-risk patients with no prior imaging, 73% of whom were later diagnosed with disease.
🧠 Do Ozempic & Mounjaro protect the brain too?
Researchers analysed records from over 60k adults with type 2 diabetes & obesity to compare semaglutide or tirzepatide use vs other diabetes drugs. GLP-1RA users had lower risks of dementia (HR 0.63), stroke (HR 0.81), & all-cause mortality (HR 0.70), with no effect on Parkinson’s or brain bleeds. Benefits were strongest in women, older adults, & those with moderate obesity.
Startup Stuff 🚀
Could your healthtech startup pitch its way to ¥5M in Japan?
MedTech Actuator’s Global Pitch Showdown offers Med/Health/BioTech founders the chance to pitch live in Osaka this Sept for a shot at ¥5M(~US$35,000). Finalists get travel support, a pitch to 000s of health leaders, & a tailored immersion into Japan’s Kansai biomedical corridor - More here
Ready to transform your lab from chaos to credibility?
Zero to Quality empowers life science researchers & small startups to implement a professional, ISO-aligned Quality Management System without needing specialist hires or consultants. It’s a structured online training, ready-made templates, expert support, audits, & certification. - More here
Got a women’s health research idea ready to go?
The Foundation for Women’s Health is accepting Letters of Intent for projects tackling critical gaps across the female life course. Focus areas this year include mental health in teen girls, uterine cancer, CVD in pregnancy, vaccine uptake, autoimmune disease, & fibroids – More here
Building the next big healthtech startup in Australia?
LX is a leading accelerator backing 10 Aussie health startups with up to $200k in funding, plus hands-on support, expert coaching, & access to 300+ clinicians, investors, & operators – More here
Ready to Turn Your Clinical Idea into Reality?
The Aus Clinical Entrepreneur Program is open for applications for the 2025-26 cohort. This program offers clinicians the skills, mentorship, & networks to transform innovative ideas into real-world healthcare solutions - More here
Got a Health Care Innovation Idea?
CSIRO’s Innovate to Grow program is open for Aus SMEs looking to turn their health care ideas into R&D projects. This free 8-week course provides guidance, expert feedback, & funding pathways to bring your innovation to life - More here
Ready to Compete for $1M on a Global Stage?
The Startup World Cup is back & for the 1st time, Melbourne is hosting a regional final on July 22. Winners head to SF for the grand finale & a shot at the $1M investment prize - More here
Want to turn your biotech idea into something real?
BioElevate is a hands-on 2-day workshop to help future founders build the skills to take a biotech idea to market. You’ll learn how to test your idea, understand your customers, sharpen your pitch, & get expert feedback along the way – More here
🧠 Nominations close TODAY for the 2025 Aus Mental Health Prize, marking its 10th year
Events💥
23rd July: 25 Years of Cicada Innovations | A Deep Tech Icons Panel (Syd)
25th July: Startup Pitch & Networking (Syd)
28th July: Bio Connections Australia (Melb)
29 - 30th July: National Aged Care Provider Conference 2025 (Melb)
31st July: Healthcare x AI Agents | Hack & Learn (NYC)
5 - 7th Aug: IHACPA Conference 2025 (Adl)
9 - 13th Aug: MEDINFO2025 (Taiwan)
18 - 20th Aug: HIC 2025 (Melb)
27th Aug: MedTech on the Hill 2025 (Canberra)
2nd Sept: Healthy People, Healthy Planet (Melb)
2nd Sept: Women's Health & Wellbeing Summit (Syd)
16 - 18th Sept: Australian Public Health Conference 2025 (Wollongong)
5 - 8th Oct: The MedTech Conference (San Diego)
19 - 22nd Oct: HLHT (Las Vegas)
21 - 24th Oct: Aus Biotech 2025 (Melb)
Cool Content
🎙️Agehood Podcast: Bernard Salt: The Futurist Who Says We're Not Ready For What's Coming
The 85+ population is going to explode from 15,000 new people per year to 62,000 - a 5x increase! Which is something we are NOT prepared for. So how do we adress this? Have a listen..
📹 Giota Science & Tech: Can This Device Save Moms' Lives?
This vid explores how Baymatob’s device, Oli, uses AI to predict deadly complications like postpartum haemorrhage & transform maternal care
📖 Christina Farr delves into the latest US regulations and how Subscription-based healthcare just got a big tailwind
📖 Graham Walker & Sarah Gebauer, rounded up 12 resources to help clinicians learn how to use AI
💅 Barbie now has a CGM and insulin pump, showing great strides for representation
📖 WTHer Dr Phil Orme breaks down the science behind wearables and exactly how they work in his latest article, “How does your (finger or wrist) wearable work?”
💡Got Feedback? Something to include next time? Keen to get in touch?
We want to make this worthy of your time & the best possible.
💌 Hit reply or reach out to emily@whatthehealth.io to let us know
Alrighty folks,
Have a fab Wednesday
👋 Emily,
Mariah & team WTH
With thanks to our partners 💜
Want to get featured here in front of >9600 health-loving legends?
Shoot us a note for ad placement & partnership opportunities.