Synthetic-user startup Simile raises $200M at $2B valuation 5 months after $100M Series A - TechCrunch

The University of Waterloo is developing a Synthetic Data Network (SDN) as part of a new cross-Canada consortium with institutions from Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. “Canada’s health-care system produces an immense amount of data with the potential to drive better decisions and better outcomes,” said Dr. Helen Chen from the School of Public Health Sciences. “However, vital privacy requirements can make it difficult to share and use person-level data at scale. This limits collaboration and leaves important opportunities for discovery untapped.”

Among cancer patients, the high financial cost of cancer care is a prevalent problem. This financial burden is also associated with potentially harmful behavioral strategies that patients might use to cope with costs, such as delaying or forgoing treatment and skipping medications. Collectively, researchers refer to this impact as financial toxicity.

Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) could transform diabetes management for millions of Americans with type 2 diabetes who don't take insulin, according to findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The clinical trial found that adults using CGMs spent approximately five additional hours each day within their target blood sugar range compared with those receiving routine care. Nearly twice as many CGM users also achieved an A1c level below 7%, a common treatment goal for people with diabetes.