#81 🍩 Trump's Autism take, NHS online hospital, & Medicare's AI trial
Whats happening in health tech & innovation?
Good morning! Or well evening from me, from Doha. 🇶🇦
I just got booted from my “overbooked” flight back from Mallorca 🇪🇸 & Milan 🇮🇹, so I’m stuck here for 24 hours (I know, I deserve zero sympathy nor have the right to complain after 5 weeks galavanting in Europe).
Anyyyyway. In case you missed it…
The Healthtech Muster is just 2 weeks away! 🎉
What’s that again?
Why, only the Aussie healthtech networking event of the year.
After a roaring launch in 2024, Tenmile & Brandon Capital are bringing you the 2nd edition of The Healthtech Muster in Melbourne. And we couldn’t be more stoked to be supporting long with our friends Prime Financial Group & Radium Capital.
(for those of you who joined last year in Sydney, you may remeber the 350+ people party on Sydney harbour during SXSW Sydney)It’s the perfect way to kick off Australia’s biggest week in biotech – with the whole ecosystem, just before the annual AusBiotech Conference ft. great food & drinks, conversations, and a chance to win prizes from R.M.Williams & Akubra.
📆 Monday, 20 October 2025
⏰ 6 pm onwards
📍The Great Room, W Melbourne (CBD)
🥂 Food, drink & fab conversations
Keen?
Tickets are limited and flying - so make sure you grab yours 👇
*PS - those who have registered and are yet to be approved (thank you!), sit tight, demand has been way stronger than anticipated, so we’re wading our way through
See you there!
Onto ze news…
🍩 TODAY’S ISSUE
Noteworthy News
AI Updates
Sick Science
Startup Stuff
Events
Cool Content
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Brought to you with… 💜 Heidi Health
Keen to help power the future of AI in healthcare? Use your sales and relationship skills for good?Join Heidi Health as a Business Development Rep and help power the future of AI in healthcare!
You’ll get to drive conversations with leading practices, fuel our rapid growth, & make world-class care faster, smarter, & more accessible.
Noteworthy 🗞️
Funding
🦻 H3D, an AI 3D-printing startup, raised $5.8M Series A to expand its customised healthcare products from hearing aids into dental labs worldwide
🧠 CUREator+ Dementia Incubator awarded $15.8M in fed funding to 7 Aus companies developing therapies, devices, & digital tools to tackle dementia
👨👦 Indi, an AI-powered co-pilot helping parents of children with complex care needs, has raised $1.46M in a round led by Giant Leap and supported by Antler
Newsworthy
💊 Novo Nordisk has asked the gov to subsidise Wegovy for 500K Aussies with heart disease & obesity, pushing for taxpayer-funded access to weight-loss drugs
✅ In one of the biggest changes of nursing regulation (and health system dynamics) in Aus in decades, qualified and endorsed registered nurses will be able to prescribe and administer medication
🤖 Medicare will pilot an AI system to expand prior authorisation decisions from 2026, sparking warnings it could delay or deny doctor-recommended care & harm patients
🏆 Harrison.ai is one of TIME’s top healthtech companies of 2025 for its AI that reviews scans to detect serious conditions, now supporting 6M/year in 1K+ facilities
💊 Strongroom AI owner Joe Zhou sold subsidiary Member Benefits Australia to the Pharmacy Guild, streamlining the startup to refocus on tackling substance abuse & overdose prevention
🛂 US H-1B visas now carry a $150K application fee for new entrants, a move hitting Aus startups & workers
🤖 Juniper’s AI chatbot June now answers nearly all user weight-loss queries, but experts warn AI advice on sensitive health issues risks triggering eating disorders
💰 Sigma CEO Vikesh Ramsunder took home $5.7M in 2025, but Chemist Warehouse’s billionaire founders & relatives sold 000s of Ms in shares, keeping the real payday in the family
💉 Moderna says its Melb plant will deliver Aus’s first locally made mRNA COVID vaccines by year’s end & produce 4 more respiratory shots within 3 years
👁️ RMIT researchers developed an eye drop that delivers protective lutein to the retina in pre-clinical tests, raising hopes for less invasive treatment of macular degeneration
🏥 Ryman Healthcare, NZ’s biggest aged care provider, dual-listed on the ASX in a $2B move to expand its Aus footprint & tap into ageing-population demand
📉 HILDA survey shows Aussies have fewer friends, pay more tax, face higher living costs, & are retiring later than ever, with 1/3 still working in their late 60s
US & Beyond Borders
⚠️ US officials led by Trump & RFK Jr claim paracetamol use in pregnancy is linked to autism & ADHD and that they may have ways to get “somewhat better” if you have it/
🏥Keir Starmer will launch an NHS online hospital service from 2027, offering millions of virtual appointments to cut wait times while freeing in-person care for those who need it
⚖️ Sanofi was ordered by a French court to pay $177M in damages for anti-competitive practices that blocked generic rivals to its anti-clotting drug Plavix
💸 Sanofi Ventures added $625M to its fund, bringing AUM to $1.4B, to back early-stage biotechs & digital health startups
💍 Oura, maker of the smart health ring, is raising $875M at an $11B valuation after doubling sales to 5.5M rings & projecting $1B+ revenue this year
And just debuted ŌURA Ring 4 Ceramic, the ŌURA Ring 4 Charging Case, and Health Panels
⌚ Apple Watch gained FDA clearance for a hypertension detection feature, set to roll out this month on Series 9–11 & Ultra models across 150 regions
💊 AstraZeneca will list shares directly on the NYSE, replacing ADRs, as it pushes to expand its US investor base & sales while keeping its London & Stockholm listings
📱 Strava, the $2.2B fitness app with 150M users, is preparing for an IPO after boosting revenue with AI tools, acquisitions, & global expansion
🏈 Aescape made Tom Brady its Chief Innovation Officer after acquiring his longevity protocols
🌎 Remarkable Accelerator welcomed 4 US startups into its 2025 disability tech program to scale inclusive innovation globally
🤖 AI Updates
📊 OpenAI research shows ChatGPT has 700M weekly users sending 2.5B messages daily, mostly for guidance, writing & info
Clinicians lean on it for documentation, patient comms, & decision support
🧪 Stanford researchers built MedAgentBench to test AI in electronic health records, finding Claude 3.5 hit 70% & GPT-4o 64% on routine clinical tasks like data entry & orders
Sick Science
🧠 Does where you carry body fat change how your brain ages?
In a cross-sectional study in Nature Mental Health, researchers analysed >18,000 UK Biobank adults using DXA to measure arm, leg, trunk, & visceral fat, paired with multimodal MRI, cognitive tests, & brain “age-gap” models, with all associations examined after adjusting for BMI. Visceral fat showed the strongest links to brain change: cortical atrophy in default-mode hubs, widespread white-matter disruption, & older cortical brain-age that statistically mediated poorer reasoning, executive function, processing speed, & memory. Upper-body fat (arm/trunk) related to thinning in sensorimotor cortex, leg fat tracked with weaker limbic connectivity, & these regional patterns were distinct from general obesity.
🧬 How does DNA methylation shape the developing human cortex?
In a Cell Genomics study, researchers profiled genome-wide DNA methylation in cortex tissue from 768 donors spanning 6 post-conception weeks to 108 years. They found dramatic, dynamic shifts in methylation during early & mid-gestation, distinct from the more stable, age-related changes seen after birth. Using cell sorting, they showed neuron-specific methylation trajectories & found that these developmental changes were enriched near genes linked to autism & schizophrenia.
Startup Stuff 🚀
Got a women’s health innovation?
The international Ripple Women’s Digital Health Challenge 2025 is now accepting applications. This 12-month program (run by Cogniss, AWS, UK’s Health Innovation Network) helps innovators build pilot-ready women’s health apps without coding - More here
Want to pitch on Australia’s biggest life sciences stage?
Challenger Pitch for Health is back – Aus’s largest pitch day in life sciences, co-hosted by Proto Axiom & St Vincent’s Curran Foundation. Taking place in Sydney March 2026, the showcase will award $500K in grants across two streams: the Proto Axiom Challenger Summit & the St Vincent’s Discovery & Innovation Pitch for Health grants - More here
Have a promising digital health startup ready to scale?
ANDHealth+ opened apps for its flagship incubator program, offering up to $5M in non-dilutive funding alongside hands-on support from a world-class network of experts to help you grow globally - More here
Developing a breakthrough in cancer care?
Johnson & Johnson’s Unlocking Urologic Oncology QuickFire Challenge is accepting apps for innovations in bladder & prostate cancer care, offering up to $300K in grants plus virtual access to J&J’s global network - More here
Working on a game-changing genomics or precision medicine solution?
The MRFF’s Genomics Health Futures Mission has a new grant round open to fund projects improving medication efficacy via pharmacogenomics & genomic solutions to tackle diseases prevalent among Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples - More here
Based in WA & need help getting to a big conference?
WA’s Health & Medical Life Sciences Market Access Grant scheme offers 80% of eligible travel costs (up to $5K) for WA healthtech SMEs to attend national or international industry events - More here
Want to level up your health startup know-how?
The NSW Health Commercialisation Training Program is offering a free 3-day Business Fundamentals bootcamp for budding healthtech entrepreneurs. It covers how to form a company, navigate regulations, get funding-ready & build your team – all taught by industry experts in law, finance, & sales - 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
Events💥
5 - 8th Oct: The MedTech Conference (San Diego)
8 - 9th Oct: Rural & Remote Health Scientific Symposium (Perth)
10th Oct: HKMTA MedTech Forum 2025: AI in MedTech (HK)
14 - 15th Oct: International Conference on Digital Health (Online)
16th Oct: Future of Health Asia (Singapore)
20th Oct: The Healthtech Muster: By Tenmile & Brandon Capital (Mel)
21st Oct: Primary Care. Digitally Connected. (Syd)
21st Oct: AusBioInvest 2025 (Melb)
22- 23rd Oct: MTAA MedTech Conference 2025 (Syd)
29th Oct: Universal “AI for Health” Summit (Washington)
29 - 31st Oct: Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (Singapore)
30th Oct: BrainTech 2025 (Melb)
14 - 16th Nov: Brighter future together (Bris)
3 - 4th Dec: Health Justice 2025 (Syd)
Cool Content 💎
🎙️Anecdotal: Hysteria & the Power of Language (ft. Dr Talat Uppal)
This episode of Anecdotal, a great women’s health focused podcast, explores the history of gynaecological language and the recent push to rename hysterectomies and PCOS
📖 Saphire Ventures mapped 80+ of the hottest AI companies building in healthcare
💡Got Feedback? Something to include next time? Keen to get in touch?
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💌 Hit reply or reach out to emily@whatthehealth.io to share your thoughts.
See you soon, our Aussie and Melbourne friends!
👋 Emily,
Mariah, Victoria & team WTH
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