The Health |april, 2019
08
Health Business
Briefs
The new Google Health unit
is absorbing health business
from DeepMind
Alphabet AI’s DeepMind, the UK-based health and
artificial intelligence company, is merging part of
its business back into Google. DeepMind’s health
subsidiary will be moving under the newly-formed
Google Health team led by former Geisinger CEO
David Feinberg.
The moves are part of a broader strategy to
increase collaboration and communication among
Alphabet’s various health projects, which are
scattered across the organization.
So as of this week, the DeepMind Health group
will effectively cease to continue as an independent
brand. It’ll now just be part of Google. The company
announced the news via a blog post on Tuesday,
where it stressed that it will continue with health
research through its academic partners, but that
products ready to be deployed will now be under the
Google umbrella.
DeepMind’s health team built an app called
Streams, which helps doctors and other clinicians
spot signs of kidney failure and other ailments. In June
of 2018, the company disclosed that more than 100
people work solely in health care, and the app has
signed deals to be used by 10 hospitals in the UK’s
National Health Service. Those people will remain in
London and continue to work under Dominic King, the
company’s health lead.
King said Google provides a platform to “bring our
technologies to the wider world.”
The newly-formed Google Health entity will include
a products division, which incorporates health
hardware, as well as a research effort. The company
has made significant investments in bringing digital
technologies to the medical sector, as it looks to
diversify its portfolio outside of advertising and search.
Centene to buy Tampa-based
WellCare in $17B deal
Centene Corporation and WellCare, two big
players in the US government-sponsored health
insurance programme, have announced that they
are merging in a deal worth $17.3 billion.
Centene is acquiring WellCare in a cash and
stock transaction for $305.39 per share for a total
enterprise value of $17.3 billion. The transaction
has been unanimously approved by the boards
of both companies. Upon completion, Centene
shareholders will own approximately 71 percent of the
combined entity, with WellCare shareholders owning
approximately 29 percent.
The combined company will have approximately
22 million members across all 50 states. Centene
said that the merger intends to create a “premier
healthcare enterprise focused on government-
sponsored healthcare programmes and a leader
in Medicaid, Medicare and the Health Insurance
Marketplace”.
Amazon, Berkshire,
JPMorgan healthcare company
to be called Haven
Amazon.com Inc, Berkshire Hathaway Inc and
JPMorgan Chase & Co on Wednesday said their
joint healthcare company would be called Haven
and will focus on better primary care access,
simpler insurance benefits and more affordable
prescription drugs for their employees.
Haven will be tasked with improving healthcare for
the three companies’ 1.2 million employees and family
members in the United States, but will also share
its findings with outsiders, according to its website,
launched on Wednesday. Haven did not say when the
changes would be in place for employees.
The three companies announced plans for a new
venture in January of 2018, shaking the shares of
health insurance companies like UnitedHealth Group
Inc and Cigna Corp that manage large corporate
benefits on worries that Amazon would disrupt the
traditional insurance and drug benefit businesses. —
The Health
From left to right: Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt, Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia, David Thomas,
Acting British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Allen Patino, Country President, AstraZeneca
Malaysia, Dr Ong Kian Ming, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Malaysia, Datuk
Zainal Amanshah, Chief Executive Officer of InvestKL, Jo Feng, Senior Vice President, Asia Area,
AstraZeneca, Marc Dunoyer, Global Chief Financial Officer, AstraZeneca, and Datuk Seri Michael KC
Yam, Chairman of InvestKL
AstraZeneca
strengthens its
commitment
in Malaysia
The company put into place RM500 million in investment
A Dannfelt, the Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia
and Mr David Thomas, the Acting British High
Commissioner to Malaysia. They were accompanied
by Mr Marc Dunoyer, Chief Financial Officer, Astra-
Zeneca, Ms Jo Feng, Senior Vice President, Asia
Area, AstraZeneca and Mr Allen Patino, Country
President, AstraZeneca Malaysia.
Inauguration celebration Marc Dunoyer, Chief Financial Officer of AstraZen-
eca, said: “We are pleased to expand our presence
in Malaysia with this investment, particularly the
setting up of this strategic delivery hub for finance
and business services within the Greater Kuala
Lumpur area. This location has many advantages,
including a sophisticated business ecosystem and
a robust multilingual talent pool with medical, HR
and IT engineering qualifications.”
Allen Patino, Country President, AstraZeneca
Malaysia, said: “In our presence in Malaysia,
AstraZeneca has built strong portfolios in medical
education, diagnostics, research, disease preven-
tion activities and various programmes to increase
affordability and access to innovative medicines.
We are planning close collaborations with our
partners to explore digital transformation in the
management of cardiovascular diseases, respiratory
diseases and cancer in Malaysia.”
Datuk Zainal Amanshah, Chief Executive Officer,
InvestKL, said: “First, allow me to congratulate
AstraZeneca on the launch of its new headquarters
and Global Business Services hub serving the
Asia Pacific. We are pleased that after almost four
decades, AstraZeneca continues to place confi-
dence in Malaysia as a hub. With this MOA today,
AstraZeneca and my team are working together in
shaping stronger vendor collaboration to enhance
product innovation. The team will also work with
various universities in building the local talent pool
to support AstraZeneca’s business in the region.”
— The Health
straZeneca will invest more
than RM500 million (USD125m)
in Malaysia over the next five years
demonstrating a strengthening
commitment towards patients,
innovation and talent development
in the country and rolling out new robotic and
cognitive technology designed to improve efficiency
and drive productivity across the Company’s global
operations.
The investment will include a new AstraZeneca
Malaysia headquarters in Nucleus Tower, Mutiara
Damansara which is part of Greater Kuala Lumpur,
housing local and global business operations across
a wide variety of functions.
In addition, a new Global Business Services
hub will be equipped with cutting-edge robotic
technology and automation to support financial,
accounting and business services for AstraZeneca
operations in the Asia Pacific region. A Robotic and
Cognitive Centre will deliver ‘digital disruption’ in
daily operations, bringing efficiency across global
operations, mimicking human actions by perform-
ing repetitive rules-based tasks.
At the inauguration of the new HQ, the Com-
pany signed a Memorandum of Agreement with
InvestKL, co-signed by Mr Allen Patino, Country
President, AstraZeneca Malaysia and Datuk Zainal
Amanshah, Chief Executive Officer, InvestKL, to
collaborate on innovation, talent development and
partnerships between the years 2019 till 2023.
In line with its strategy for improving access to
healthcare, AstraZeneca aims to improve disease
prevention, awareness and treatment, building
capacity in areas with limited infrastructure for
underserved patients.
The inauguration was officiated by Dr Ong Kian
Ming, the Deputy Minister of International Trade
and Industry, and witnessed by Mr Dag Juhlin-
Expanding in Malaysia