UNO Tech enters Malaysia, brings clinic management system
Singaporean medical technology firm UNO Technologies has entered the Malaysian market through its partnership with local pharmaceutical upstart Aetos Pharma.
The company seeks to get a slice of the pie from the increasing investments into the country's public and private healthcare system. It notes that its startup and tech ecosystem is "...
The smoking-cessation digital-therapeutic app Quit Genius was found to be an effective treatment for people trying to stop smoking, especially when they are compared to individuals seeking out their own regimen, according to new research from JMIR Mental Health.
The results from this study were only indicative for the short term, but researchers noted that a subsequent paper would be published...
The World Health Organization has announced a new smoking cessation initiative that will combine free nicotine replacement therapies with an artificial intelligence-based "virtual health worker."
The digital tool comes from virtual-avatar-maker Soul Machines, and aims to dispel misinformation about COVID-19 and tobacco use while helping develop personalized plans to quit smoking. Florence, as she...
This morning Sharecare, a digital health engagement platform, scooped up tech-enabled behavioral health platform MindSciences for an undisclosed sum.
As part of this acquisition, MindSciences programs will be available to Sharecare’s enterprise partners and consumers. Currently its offerings are split into three programs: Craving to Quit, a smoking cessation-based program; Eat Right Now, a...
Redwood, California-based Carrot has released new trial data supporting the performance of its digital smoking cessation program. Conducted by the company and published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, they report that nearly a third of enrollees successfully quit smoking by the program’s end, with many who did not reporting a reduction in average cigarettes consumed per day.
“Demonstrating a quit...
The FDA has lately taken a hard stance on tobacco companies targeting children and teens (thanks in some part to departing FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb), and it certainly seems as if the agency is exploring every avenue in its public awareness campaign — including free-to-play video games.
Earlier this month the agency and its partner, marketing communications firm FCB New York, stealthily...
Carrot, the Redwood City, California-based maker of a smoking cessation app and its paired, FDA-cleared breathalyzer device, announced this week that it has raised $25 million in new funding. The investment was led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJDC), with participation from New York Life Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Marc Benioff, R7 Partners and Dr. David Utley, Carrot’s founder, president...
What happened
Ro—company previously known for its online men's health platform focused on erectile dysfunction, Roman— announced that it landed $88 million, this time to work on an addiction cessation platform. This round was led by FirstMark Capital with participation from SignalFire, Initialized Capital, General Catalyst, Slow Ventures, Sinai Ventures, Torch Capital, BoxGroup, Tusk Ventures and...
Online social networks are becoming an increasingly prevalent strategy for public health and other stakeholders to cut down unhealthy behaviors. Whether they’re built for a mainstream audience or to address the issues of a focused patient population, these digital communities all share a major challenge: members who aren’t interested in participating.
“Poor engagement in a digital behavior change...
Members of a smoking cessation Facebook group were 2.5 times more successful in quitting than controls over three-month, according to a recent study published in Addiction. However, after a year, those in the intervention group actually had lower rates of cessation than the control group.
"We found that we could reach a hard-to-reach population, have short-term abstinence, and also have...
