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Thursday, 9 July 2026 |
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The biggest health tech stories of 2026 — so far |
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| We’re more than halfway through 2026, and it’s been an eventful year. |
| Here are the five biggest developments we noticed in the first six months. |
- Major AI companies are coming for healthcare. OpenAI and Anthropic kicked off the year spelling out how they planned to bring their AI tools to healthcare. In April, I spoke with OpenAI’s Nate Gross about how the AI giant is approaching healthcare, coming away with a sense that competition is heating up. Now, I’m waiting to see what else might come up once we get to see those S-1 filings when the companies go public.
- Clinical AI became a reality. For a long time, the main way we talked about AI in this newsletter was in an administrative context, helping with notetaking and other office tasks. That changed when Doctronic launched a pilot program in Utah to allow AI to refill prescriptions. We’re on
the cusp of no doctor involved, AI-only healthcare.
- Peptides made their way into the Trump administration’s agenda, and into telehealth businesses’ strategies. In the past six months, I’ve gone from barely knowing about the world of peptides to talking frequently about “reta” and peptide stacks. All eyes are on the FDA’s peptide advisory committee later this month, and companies like Noom, Hims and Superpower are preparing.
- Whoop’s and Oura’s healthcare ambitions took shape: With major funding rounds, an upcoming IPO, getting in the clear with the FDA, plus new features connecting health data and care, wearables makers are turning smart devices from fitness
trackers into devices that could have staying power in healthcare delivery.
- Megarounds are back? It’s been ages since I was consistently reporting on nine-figure funding rounds in health tech — let alone unicorns.
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| Here’s what we’re keeping an eye on the rest of the year: |
- Consumer interest in healthcare seems to be factoring a lot more into the decisions companies are making. Is that a blip, or will that stick around?
- How well digital health companies do in CMS’ ACCESS program. Yes, this is a reminder to read Shelby’s piece from Tuesday.
- Direct-to-consumer weight loss drug sales have opened up a new way for pharma companies to reach patients. We’ll be watching to see how that evolves throughout the rest of the year.
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| - Lydia |
| P.S. — To prepare for this newsletter, I looked back at what I wrote last July. It’s fascinating to see where health tech has gone in a year, when a break in the IPO freeze, Walgreens going private and the future of UnitedHealth Group were what we were talking about. |
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Data-driven docs |
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82 |
The percentage of doctors that say they personally use a wearable device, such as a smart ring or a fitness tracker, a 2026 survey of 2,200 physicians across six countries conducted by the American Medical Association and Medscape found. |
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Worldwide made. Thanks for reading.
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