LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / April 7, 2016 / Here are 6 technologies that will change the face of the global healthcare market in the next 5 years.
1. Bioelectronics
While bioelectronic medicine, which seeks to use electrical pulses to trick the body into healing itself, may seem like a big idea in some futuristic sci-fi story, the reality is it's already here and happening now.
Bioelectronic medicine is a new field but the hope and promise of this approach is significant. Can you imagine a world without Crohn's disease, Alzheimer's, or heart failure? These are inflammatory diseases that affect millions of people each and every day. But, what if they didn't have to suffer or live the rest of their lives on drugs? Bioelectronic medicine, which is seeking to address these diseases, is not an innovation but rather a revolution. A revolution seen replacing billions of dollars in drugs replaced with safer and potentially more effective devices.
Bioelectronic medicine at its core seeks to control the inflammatory response which is critical to healing but can be very dangerous and damaging if too much of it persists.
This new field of medicine has attracted the attention and investment of big pharma, such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, which has created a tiny pill-sized implantable device that can literally reroute the neuro-pathways of sick patients by tapping into the vagus nerve, located on the side of the neck. This device works like a pacemaker, in that it hits the off-switch on the vagus nerve, causing it to turn off its inflammatory response. This device is now being engineered and developed by California's SetPoint Medical.
One bioelectronics player we see having the potential to grow faster than the market is Endonovo Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB:ENDV), an innovative biotechnology company developing bioelectronics-based products and therapies for regenerative medicine.
Endonovo's bioelectronic device uses a different approach than others in the field; it is a non-implantable device that uses a pulsed electromagnetic field to deliver electrical stimulation, rather than implantable electrodes.
ENDV's devices are based on the Time-Varying Electromagnetic Field (TVEMF) technology originally developed at NASA.
ENDV's Immunotronics™ platform is a non-invasive, non-implantable bioelectronic device for preventing and treating vital organ failure through the reduction of inflammation and cell death, and the promotion of regeneration. It has been identified in pre-clinical studies to be an innovative approach for treating acute inflammation.
The company is targeting inflammatory conditions in vital organs and has set its initial concentration on treating inflammation in the liver. If Endonovo can treat inflammation in vital organs then its technology would truly be a game changer as inflammation is regarded as the root of all disease.
ENDV is also using bioelectronics to create more potent cell therapies and next-generation biologics by simulating adult stem cells using its Cytotronics™ platform.
ENDV just received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a patent application entitled "Biological Molecules Produced by Electromagnetically Stimulating Living Mammalian Cells." When the USPTO intends to issue a patent, it sends the applicant a Notice of Allowance, which is what ENDV just received. The final steps required before the actual patent is issued are essentially a formality (applicant pays required issue fee and submits any final drawings). So essentially this news means ENDV has received patent approval.
The patent application covers the production of fully human biological molecules, including growth factors and cytokines in adult stem cells using the Company's proprietary technologies. This technology has applications from the production of biological molecules, such as cytokines for research purposes to the creation of next-generation biologics.
2. Artificial Intelligence:
-CAGR of 42% to reach $6.6 billion in 2021
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer science fiction, it's already become a driver of many consumer electronics and is set to become a large driver in healthcare. AI's ability to quickly process information helps improve patient outcomes by assisting healthcare practitioners in using medical knowledge, which has been thoroughly analyzed and memorized by these systems.
The healthcare AI market is expected to reach $6.6 billion by 2021. Improved patient outcomes, reduced cost in treatment, and elimination of unnecessary procedures are a few reasons for the growth of the AI market in the healthcare industry.
By 2020, the capabilities of AI will be able to diagnose chronic conditions, such as cancer and diabetes, within minutes using cognitive systems that provide real-time 3D images by identifying typical physiological characteristics in the scans.
Computer-aided diagnosis and treatment are already being tried at 16 cancer institutes working with IBM's Watson Health artificial intelligence venture (which launched in April 2015).
"Right now what you see is that IBM and Watson is at the center of the [health care AI] ecosystem," says Venkat Rajan, who has the great title of global director for the company's Visionary Healthcare Program.. However, some artificial intelligence competitors are emerging, such as New Jersey-based startup Hindsait, founded by former Accenture managing director Pinaki Dasgupta. Hindsait's A.I. was developed specifically for health care.
3. Immunotherapies
Immunotherapies also called biologic therapy, is a treatment that uses your body's own immune system to help fight cancer. It uses materials either made by the body or in a laboratory to improve, target, or restore immune system function. An important part of the immune system is its ability to tell between normal cells in the body and those it sees as “foreign.” This lets the immune system attack the foreign cells while leaving the normal cells alone. To do this, it uses “checkpoints” - molecules on certain immune cells that need to be activated (or inactivated) to start an immune response.
Cancer cells sometimes find ways to use these checkpoints to avoid being attacked by the immune system. But drugs that target these checkpoints hold a lot of promise as cancer treatments. The market for checkpoint inhibitors was valued at $3 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $21.1 billion by 2020, growing at CAGR of 139%. Amgen (AMGN), AstraZeneca (AZN), Juno Therapeutics, Inc. (JUNO), Kite Pharma, Inc. (KITE), and Incyte Corp. (INCY) are a few options for investing in immunotherapy.
4. Liquid Biopsy
Some have called this the “holy grail” of cancer treatment. Liquid biopsy essentially allows doctors to monitor cancer cells from simple blood samples. Today, repeated biopsies are needed to study the changing tumor and present a huge challenge to the patient. In addition to screening for cancer, liquid biopsies could be a way to help people already fighting the disease. Doctors can pick a drug according to the specific DNA mutation driving a cancer forward. Tests to identify the mutation are sometimes done on tissue taken from a tumor, but a noninvasive blood test would be appropriate in more cases.
Myriad Genetics (MYGN), Oncocyte (OCX), Vermillion (VRML), Veracyte (VCYT), Foundation Medicine (FMI), Genomic Health (GHDX), and Biocept (BIOC) are all developing Liquid Biopsies.
5. CRISPR/Cas9 (RT): Disrupting the way R&D is conducted and products are developed
CRISPR-Cas9 is a customizable tool that lets scientists cut and insert small pieces of DNA at precise areas along a DNA strand. The tool is composed of two basic parts: the Cas9 protein, which acts like the wrench, and the specific RNA guides, CRISPRs, which act as the set of different socket heads. These guides direct the Cas9 protein to the correct gene, or area on the DNA strand, that controls a particular trait. This lets scientists study our genes in a specific, targeted way and in real-time. So now scientists can study the effects of losing a gene's function by inserting a mutation - a change in the DNA sequence that changes how a gene functions - and studying its effects on the cell and the organism. This technique catapulted onto the research scene in 2014, and companies are flocking to provide research tools and develop therapeutics using the technology. Sangamo Biosciences is the most prolific company to have applied one of these technologies—Zinc Finger Nucleases—to the development of clinical-stage human therapeutics. Other companies, such as the start-ups CRISPR Therapeutics and Editas Medicine, have focused on CRISPR, having received millions in VC funding.
6. 3D Printing
We often hear of desktop 3D printing being a tool for designers and engineers, but prototyping technology is also making waves in healthcare, especially for medical modeling and surgical planning purposes. 3D printing technology's enormous potential lies in its ability to be customized. Its application can dramatically reduce surgery times and medical expenses. Currently, 3D-printed scaffolds or prosthetics (orthopedic implants) and medical devices, such as dental implants and hearing aids are leading the market. 3D printing's largest potential market will be in human tissue printing: printed livers, hearts, ears, hands and eyes, or building the smallest functional units of tissues, which can lead to the fabrication of large tissues and organs. This can be used as surgical grafts to repair or replace the damaged tissues and organs. This will reduce the costs associated as well. Companies leading this field are Stratasys Ltd., Arcam AB, Organovo Holdings Inc., Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Services Inc. and Stryker (SYK).
A few additional companies to look at include: Cara Therapeutics, Inc. (CARA), Celldex Therapeutics, Inc.(CLDX), Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SPPI), Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ANTH), & Advaxis, Inc. (ADXS).
This is a very exciting time to be an investor, the aforementioned companies could net huge profits as their respective technologies change the face of the healthcare industry as we know it.
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Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. ACR Communication, LLC. which owns Microcapspeculators.com, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. ACR Communication, LLC., which owns Microcapspeculators.com, may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. ACR Communication LLC., which owns Microcapspeculators.com, may be compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or in equity in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. ACR Communication, LLC has been compensated a total of $26,000 cash by a non-affiliate third party of ENDV.
