Otsuka Precision Health makes a digital health acquisition Read in browser

Thursday, 9 October 2025

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Health tech is attracting capital and defying the downturn: from wearable tech to RWE, momentum is building. Join our online session in the AM and in the PM we’re live in person that evening with a reception at NYC’s Book Club Bar. Don’t miss out — seats are limited, get your spot

Prescription pick-up Yesterday, Amazon said it will start setting up machines that can dispense prescription medication at its One Medical clinics. It’s not a new piece of technology (in fact, it's basically a vending machine). Some hospitals have similar kiosks for prescription drugs, though they are largely for employees. And CVS Health already sells common over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol the same way. And while the vending machine concept isn't new, what it says about Amazon's strategy is. It’s the complete opposite of what its more traditional pharmacy competitors have done. While CVS and Walgreens began as pharmacies that bought clinic chains, Amazon will start by putting its machines at One Medical locations to offer prescriptions right after appointments.   Amazon now has one more incentive to steer patients toward its own drug channel. Patients can still choose to pick up their medicine elsewhere, but it's hard to argue with the convenience of having it right in the office, or to get it online from Amazon Pharmacy. Owning multiple channels of healthcare revenue isn't new, but incentives can muddy now that Amazon can profit twice, president of 3 Axis Advisors Antonio Ciaccia told me.  “Vertical integration presents a blurring of the lines of what we typically might consider to be two components of the marketplace that are distinct from one another,” he said. “There are a lot of ways that this kind of foot-in-the-door in front of competitors can be very advantageous for Amazon as a broader company.” Data has also shown that people have by and large returned to brick-and-mortar local pharmacies after the pandemic, partly out of habit, Ciaccia said. This appears to be Amazon’s way into having an in-person pharmacy presence. Amazon’s machines, which include a screen for teleconsults with pharmacists, will start being available across Los Angeles clinics this December. I’ll be keeping an eye on how the technology rolls out beyond that and how effective it is at getting more people to use Amazon Pharmacy.  - Ngai

Here’s what’s new Exclusive: Otsuka Precision Health buys maternal meditation platform Mindful Mamas Ot­su­ka Pre­ci­sion Health, a sub­sidiary of the drug­mak­er Ot­su­ka that's fo­cused on dig­i­tal health, has ac­quired Mind­ful Ma­mas, a ma­ter­nal men­tal well­ness start­up of­fer­ing med­i­ta­tion, End­points News has learned ex­clu­sive­ly. Amazon Pharmacy expands to in-person with prescription pickup machines Pa­tients of Ama­zon’s One Med­ical clin­ic chain will soon be able to pick up their pre­scrip­tions in per­son from ma­chines, mark­ing the first in-per­son move by the tech gi­ant’s phar­ma­cy busi­ness.

Quote of the week “AI is great at generating ideas… Really our job is to be the person who has really good taste.… The great scientists are the ones who have really beautiful taste.” Vijay Pande, co-founder at VZVC on what’s going to be important for humans to do as AI becomes increasingly important in biology and medicine

This week in health Тech Diagnostics company BillionToOne filed to go public on Tuesday. Last valued at more than $1 billion, BillionToOne makes DNA tests for prenatal screenings and cancer. It posted $152.6 million in revenue in 2024 and a net loss of $41.6 million. Its biggest investors include Hummingbird Ventures, Neotribe Ventures, Adams Street Partners and Libertus Capital. A judge for the US District Court for the District of Delaware dismissed Lilly’s case against Strive Pharmacy, citing that the company didn’t show enough evidence that the case had to be filed in Delaware. Back in April, Lilly filed lawsuits against Empower Pharmacy and Strive, alleging the compounding pharmacies made false claims about their tirzepatide products. Supplemental benefits administration startup Soda Health rebranded to Evermore, timed quite well to the latest Taylor Swift album release. Evermore is backed by General Catalyst, Define Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Benefits brokerage Nava Benefits raised $30 million. Thrive Capital led the Series C round.

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