Ransomware Attacks On U.S. Health Systems Have Cost The Economy Nearly $8 Billion

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A new report from cybersecurity research firm Comparitech has found that since 2016, there have been 539 confirmed ransomware attacks on healthcare organizations in the United States, which hit nearly 10,000 separate healthcare sites and potentially impacted over 52 million patient records. The firm estimates that such attacks have cost the U.S. economy over $77 billion just from the downtime alone. The average amount of downtime lost to a ransomware attack was 14 days but in some cases the damage took months to repair. The average ransom demand in the 66 attacks that have occurred in 2023 so far was for over $2 million. “It’s clear that hackers aren’t just succeeding in data theft but are managing to cause unprecedented disruption with their malware,” the report’s authors write.

Why VC Firm General Catalyst Wants To Spend Billions To Buy A Hospital System

The usual private equity play in healthcare is to acquire, cut costs and sell. But this venture capital firm thinks there are better opportunities in having a long-term vision–and a proving ground for the technology coming out of its portfolio companies.

Pipeline & Deal Updates

Ultrasound Tech: GE Healthcare and Novo Nordisk are collaborating on the development of non-invasive ultrasound treatments for type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions. Meanwhile, Butterfly Network has announced a 5-year co-development agreement with Forest Neuratech to make a neural implant that can image and stimulate the brain using ultrasound.

Programmable Medicine: Flagship Pioneering announced that two of its portfolio companies that are developing programmable medicine platforms, Senda Biosciences and Laronde, will be merging to form a new company, Sail Biomedicines.

Nanotechnology: Flashpoint Therapeutics, which is developing nanostructure-based therapies for cancer and other diseases, announced it raised a $10 million seed financing round to advance its drug candidates.

Venture Capital: Healthcare investment firm OrbiMed announced that it raised over $4.3 billion for its latest funds, which will invest in healthcare companies across the globe.

Oncology SPAC; Citius Pharmaceuticals announced that its oncology subsidiary will be going public via a SPAC merger with TenX Keane Acquisition in a deal valued at $675 million.

Generative AI Pipeline: Pharmaceutical company Insmed announced it’s entering into a collaboration with Google Cloud to use the latter’s generative AI tools for drug discovery, development and commercialization.

Immunology: Swiss pharma giant Roche announced it’s acquiring Telavant, an immunology company developing a promising treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, in a deal worth more than $7 billion.

Forget ‘Crushing It,’ Startup Founders Open Up About Mental Health Problems

Starting a business often means a significant ramp up in your stress levels thanks to late nights, money anxieties and other challenges. But founders are often afraid to show a shred of weakness in themselves or their companies, largely for fear of how it might affect their startup’s reputation and employees’ morale. Fortunately, this attitude is starting to change. And here are some entrepreneurs who are willing to open up about their strategies for dealing with mental health challenges, from therapy and peer groups to vulnerability and psychedelic drugs.

Other Healthcare News

Drugmaker GSK announced promising preliminary results from a late-state trial of its RSV vaccine in people aged 50 to 59.

The FDA is reviewing a flu vaccine that people could administer themselves at home nasally, British drugmaker AstraZeneca announced this week.

Centene reported third quarter profits of $469 million as membership in Obamacare plans grew by 1.5 million, the health insurer said Tuesday.

A pill to prevent dengue fever—a viral infection also called “breakbone fever” for the severe pain it can cause—could be on the horizon, according to data presented by Johnson & Johnson.

Eating more than one serving of red meat a week may increase the chance of developing type 2 diabetes, a new study found.