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Maven Clinic Enlists AI in the Battle Against Complications of Pregnancy
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By Brian Gormley, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Virtual-care provider Maven Clinic is turning to artificial intelligence to combat complications of pregnancy such as preeclampsia.
Maven, backed with more than $425 million in funding from investors such as Lux Capital, provides virtual care for women and families. It now plans to use AI and data it has accumulated by supporting routine to higher-risk pregnancies to pinpoint warning signs of pregnancy complications.
Most pregnancies begin with no apparent risk factors, said Dr. Neel Shah, Maven’s chief medical officer. But complications can still emerge. They include preeclampsia, which typically occurs after week 20 and is marked by high blood pressure. It can also cause kidney and other organ damage.
The proliferation of connected devices, such as blood pressure cuffs and glucose monitors, makes it increasingly possible to detect danger signals so interventions can occur sooner.
Someone with an elevated risk of preeclampsia, for example, could take low-dose aspirin as a preventive measure, Shah said.
Maven by early next year will be able to sync with a wide range of consumer and clinical-grade wearables, Shah said. Patients once had to go to the doctor because the physician had devices like blood pressure cuffs, he said.
“Now we’re bringing that diagnostic capability into peoples’ homes and into their hands,” he added.
And now on to the news...
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MATT ROTA
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Genetically engineered babies. For months, a small company in San Francisco has been pursuing a secretive project: the birth of a genetically engineered baby.
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Backed by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and his husband, along with Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong, the startup—called Preventive—has been quietly preparing what would amount to a biological first. They are working toward creating a child born from an embryo edited to prevent a hereditary disease. In recent months, executives at the company privately said a couple with a genetic disease had been identified who was interested in participating, according to people familiar with the conversations.
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Gene-editing technologies now in use for treatment after birth allow scientists to cut, edit and insert DNA, but using the process in sperm, eggs or embryos is far more controversial and has prompted calls by scientists for a global moratorium until the ethical and scientific questions get resolved. Editing genes in embryos with the intention of creating babies from them is banned in the U.S. and many countries.
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Preventive has been searching for places to experiment where embryo editing is allowed, including the United Arab Emirates, according to correspondence reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
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99%+
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The percentage of malaria cases in a late-stage study that were cured by a potential new treatment from drugmaker Novartis.
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First New Malaria Drug in Years Performs Well in Late-Stage Testing
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Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of children annually, yet there hasn’t been a major new drug to fight it in more than 25 years. Now, Novartis says it has one. The Swiss company said Wednesday that a potential new treatment cured more than 99% of malaria cases in a late-stage study. The drug candidate may also be able to prevent the spread of drug resistance, a growing threat in sub-Saharan Africa, Novartis said. The new drug, known as GanLum for its components ganaplacide and lumefantrine, promises the biggest innovation in malaria treatments since the introduction in 1999 of combination therapies using a compound called artemisinin. A new drug would provide a much-needed new weapon against
malaria. Artemisinin-based medicines are still very effective, but resistance to them is spreading, particularly in East and Southern Africa, said David Fidock, professor of microbiology and immunology and medical sciences at Columbia University.
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People
Alpha-9 Oncology, a startup developing targeted cancer therapies, appointed Paul Blanchfield as chief executive officer. He was most recently president of Lantheus.
Bexorg, a central nervous system drug discovery and development platform, appointed Sean Murphy as chief technology officer. He previously served as vice president of artificial intelligence at Vivodyne.
QurAlis, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, named physician-scientist Manoj Malhotra as its new chief medical officer. He previously was vice president of global medical affairs at AbbVie.
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Gate Bioscience, a Brisbane, Calif.-based startup developing a new class of oral small molecule medicines that eliminate disease-causing proteins at their source, closed a $65 million Series B round. Forbion led the investment, which included participation from Versant Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, GV and ARCH Venture Partners. Vanessa Carle, principal at Forbion, will join the company’s board.
House Rx, a San Francisco-based pharmacy services startup focused on making specialty medication more accessible and affordable, landed a $55 million Series B equity and debt round. New Enterprise Associates and Town Hall Ventures led the investment, which included additional support from Bessemer Venture Partners and others.
MyTomorrows, an Amsterdam-headquartered AI-powered platform for pre-approval treatments, picked up a $29 million investment from Avego.
Evidium, a San Francisco-based healthcare AI startup, secured $22 million in Series A financing co-led by Health2047 and WGG Partners.
NextSense, a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of earbuds that translate real-time brain activity into actionable insights for better sleep, closed a $16 million Series A round led by Ascension Ventures.
Modulight Biotherapeutics, a Boston-based startup focusing on the treatment of neurological disorders, completed a $12.2 million seed round led by Jibe Ventures and LocalGlobe.
Robyn AI, a San Francisco-based personal emotional support AI provider, was seeded with a $5.5 million investment led by M13.
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President Trump announced a drug-price deal last week, with Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar, center, and Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks among those behind him. JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS
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