Abridge CTO on competition with Epic

Over the last few years, Abridge has become one of the leading artificial intelligence companies in health care. It's got a multi-billion dollar valuation and an ambient scribe used by hundreds of health systems. So what's next for the company?

In a revealing interview with Brittany Trang, CTO Zachary Lipton reflects on growing from a 15-person startup working on reducing documentation burden to a company of hundreds striving to streamline painful workflows at health systems, like coding and prior-authorization. Lipton discussed the company's work on a clinical decision support offering and the competitive threat to its core product from EHR giant Epic.

diagnostics

Multi-cancer tests pick up momentum before evidence

Buried by the Novo-Hims fracas last week was another important development: Hims will begin marketing Galleri, a multi-cancer early detection test from Grail.

As Katie Palmer report s, the Grail test does not rule out cancers, and experts worry it may provide false reassurance to people who ought to get their regular physician-recommended screenings.

A rundown of the Hims and Novo drama so far

Novo Nordisk on Monday sued Hims for infringing on its patents for semaglutide, the key ingredient in Novo's diabetes and obesity medications Ozempic and Wegovy. Novo has sued companies offering compounded versions of the blockbuster drugs in the the past, but this is the first time it's made a patent claim, a much more aggressive tactic. Read STAT's exclusive interview with Novo's chief counsel John Kuckelman here.

The lawsuit followed a fast moving news cycle that's played out since the last edition of STAT Health Tech:

Hims on Thursday announced it was selling a compounded semaglutide pill just weeks after Novo began selling its Food and Drug Administration-approved Wegovy pill.
Novo loudly protested, as it has in the past over Hims' compounding.
The federal health department on Friday asked the Department of Justice to investigate Hims for possible violations of FDA law.
Hims on Saturday announced that actually it would stop selling a compounded copy of Novo's Wegovy pill.
Novo's Kuckelman said that in reality, Hims has been violating Hims' patents since the semaglutide shortage ended last year. Novo has had enough. But as my colleagues Ed Silverman and Elaine Chen explore in their interview, there are risks to patent litigation — if Hims manages to invalidate the patent, Novo could soon face competition from legal generics.
Relatedly: FDA late last year issued a warning letter to MedisourceRx, a compounding pharmacy owned by Hims and Hers. Read more about a reported adverse event and a rodent infestation from Ed here.

mental health

Spring's sneaky AI project

Spring Health has been quietly developing an "AI-led" employee assistance program offering called Thoughtful, Exits & Outcomes reported. According to Thoughtful's website, it will offer a combination of AI support for stress and connections to additional services to those who may need more. Spring, which primarily sells mental health benefits to employers, is just the latest large mental health tech company to wade into offering an AI service. Last year, I covered Spring competitor Lyra's new chatbot offering.

The effort sheds new light on some of Spring Health's recent work and rhetoric around AI mental health chatbots. The company has been advancing its proposa l for industry standards around AI. Spring cofounder Adam Chekroud told me recently the company was plotting a new publication on the topic. I asked him if the company is developing a chatbot. "Obviously we have it, and obviously we haven't released it yet because we're worried about safety," he said.

Health tech news roundup

Doximity reported $185 million in revenue over the last quarter, up 10% year over year. The company, however, projected a slower start to the year than investors expected, fueling concerns about whether an insurgent threat from OpenEvidence might be weighing on its ad sales. On the earnings call, executives said pharma customers have delayed spending over uncertainty about how the Trump administration's most favored nation policies might affect budgets.
Speaking of OpenEvidence: The company released a new feature aimed at helping doctors match their patients with clinical trials.
Apple is bagging plans to release a rumored AI-based health coach, according to Bloomberg. The change in plans comes as Eddy Cue takes over supervision of Apple's health efforts from Jeff Williams, who retired last year.