The total public and private sector investment in healthcare AI are stunning: All told, it is expected to reach $6.6 billion by 2021, according to some estimates. Even more staggering, Accenture predicts that the top AI applications may result in annual savings of $150 billion by 2026.
In theory, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) can be applied to nearly every process in healthcare. In practice, however, entrepreneurs, enterprise leaders, and investors need to discriminate between incremental improvements and the 10X improvements that will transform the industry.
In developing markets as well #AI driven companies are gaining attention and VC. Companies like Mfine has raised more than $24 million and has around 200 staff in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. But #AI faces several hurdles as well. When patient files are faxed, emailed as unreadable PDFs or set as images of handwritten notes, it will be quite difficult for AI to extract useful information. However, Apple and other big tech companies have the advantage here as they are familiar with onboarding a large network of partners including healthcare providers and #EHR vendors.
Just over 10% of all digital health VC dollars have gone to AI/machine learning companies since 2011—(last week’s deals were no exception). But not all use cases are getting equal attention from AI entrepreneurs and investors. Recently, Rock Health dug some numbers and found that drug discovery and population health management top the charts. It is hard to determine however which areas of healthcare will be first to see sizable shifts from AI integration.
Seventy-seven percent of healthcare executives reported that their organizations are accelerating investments in big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), citing disruptive forces and industry competitors as major motivators for increased spending, a cross-industry report from NewVantage Partners revealed.
However, nearly 80 percent of data analytics leaders said their organizations still struggle with big data analytics and AI adoption, with 92.5 percent naming cultural and organizational resistance as major barriers.
Adding to the investments in AI, The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) agreed to invest 100 million RUB in Oncobox, a company developing solutions for cancer diagnosis based on artificial intelligence (AI). Led by CEO Andrew Garazha, Oncobox is currently developing a digital platform for performing molecular diagnostics of cancers.
Talking of the big wigs, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon (FAMGA) are the leading acquirers of artificial intelligence startups (CB Insights Report). Google is leading the #healthcare space. In the last seven years, Google contributed to 16 cybersecurity startups, including CrowdStrike, and 14 healthcare startups. Security and data management is where Google is investing most heavily with a primary focus on the healthcare and financial industries.
Health-care investment can be unpredictable, requiring big bets on new technologies, a handful of which can yield marketable products, while many others go down in flames. Pharma companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence and machine learning to speed the costly process of discovering and developing new drugs. Benevolent AI Ltd., based in London, is using the approach to discover treatments for brain cancers, Parkinson’s disease, and other disorders, and just entered a collaboration with AstraZeneca Plc to research treatments for lung and kidney illnesses. The company was valued at just over $2 billion last year when it completed a financing round with investors including Woodford, who first invested in 2014, according to his website.
Read more on how #Google plans to use #AI to reinvest $3 Trillion #healthcare industry. #digitalhealth #artificialintelligence
https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/google-strategy-healthcare/