Digital Health
• Digital health funding reached $14.2 billion in 2025, a 35% rise from 2024 and the highest total since 2022.
• AI‑enabled companies captured 54% of the capital and earned about a 19% premium in deal size, accounting for half of all deals.
• Megadeals (>$100 million) comprised 42% of funding, with 26 megadeals and 15 new unicorns driven by megafunds such as a16z, General Catalyst and Kleiner Perkins.
• M&A activity jumped 61% to 195 deals, with digital health firms making up 66% of acquirers while distressed exits highlighted valuation pressures.
AI
• Anthropic launched Claude for Healthcare, an AI suite for providers, payers, and patients, mirroring OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health.
• In the U.S., Claude Pro and Max subscribers can securely link lab results and health records, letting the AI summarize histories, explain test results, and draft doctor‑visit questions.
• New HealthEX and Function connectors, plus Apple Health and Android Health Connect integrations, enable Claude to pull data from wearables and phones, with beta rollout this week via the iOS and Android apps.
• Anthropic stresses privacy: users must opt‑in, can control or revoke data access, and health data will not be used to train its models, while the AI provides disclaimers and directs users to professionals.
• Neurable’s EEG headset can detect early signs of Alzheimer’s, depression, and Parkinson’s before physical symptoms appear by comparing brain activity with medical history.
• French startup NAOX received FDA clearance for EEG earbuds that monitor nightly brain “spikes” to aid epilepsy management and is studying links to Alzheimer’s with Paris hospitals.
• IriHealth plans to sell a $50 smartphone iris‑scanning attachment that claims 81% accuracy in identifying colon‑cancer markers, despite the controversial scientific basis of iridology.
• OpenAI launched a health‑focused chatbot that can integrate users’ wearable data and medical records, reflecting that over 200 million people query ChatGPT weekly for health information.
Australia
• The proportion of GP clinics that fully bulk‑bill has nearly doubled within the past year, according to a new TNS report released in January 2026.
• The report highlights that Australia can afford to bulk‑bill all GP visits, yet many practices continue to charge fees.
• The Labor government plans to build 50 new bulk‑billing urgent‑care clinics to expand free‑access services.
• The initiative is intended to cut out‑of‑pocket costs and improve timely primary‑care access across the country.