LONDON – Digital health startup Gendius Ltd. is to take a lead role in an Astrazeneca plc initiative to improve diabetes care in the Gulf states, after signing an agreement to deploy its Intellin diabetes management system in the region.

Conventional wisdom has it that recent expansions in coverage of telehealth will never be fully reversed. The addition of artificial intelligence (AI) into telehealth could solve several issues faced by doctors and hospitals. There is some concern, however, that the blending of AI and telehealth will industrialize the practice of medicine, dissuading patients from seeking critically needed care.

Hong Kong – Vuno Inc. is looking to access more markets after inking a partnership with Japan’s M3 on June 19. The partnership with M3, a medical data platform which is 34% owned by conglomerate Sony Corp., allows Vuno to tap into the Japanese market. The M3-Vuno tie-up aims to encompass all Vuno’s existing products.

Startup Brightinsight Inc. is working to make the infrastructure behind digital health easily accessible to pharma and med-tech companies. To aid it on this path, the San Jose, Calif.-based company has raised a $40 million series B round to expand its capabilities and global reach.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled an unprecedented uptick in telehealth use, from medical and behavioral health services to remote patient monitoring, as federal and state regulators have relaxed certain policy restrictions to increase access to care. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) recommended in a Senate hearing that certain temporary policy changes, such as elimination of the “originating site” rule and expansion of Medicare- and Medicaid-covered telehealth services, should be lasting to ensure patients retain health care access when the crisis is over.

TORONTO – What do agricultural pesticides and concealed weapons have to do with med-tech advances in fighting COVID-19? Plenty, according to Canada’s science and industry ministry.