Midwest investors flex their muscles, while Epic Systems faces stiffer competition in the electronic health records software space. Read on for details about these and other stories from the Wisconsin innovation scene.
—The Great Lakes region accounted for 17.1 percent of angel investments in the first quarter, according to the latest Halo Report from Silicon Valley Bank, the Angel Resource Institute, and CB Insights. That trailed only California’s 17.7 percent of angel deal flow and bested the activity in New England (12.7 percent of the pie) and New York (12 percent). When considering the share of angel dollars invested during the quarter, the Great Lakes region (Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana) ranked highest with 24.6 percent, ahead of 16.7 percent in California. Among the top 10 most active angel groups in the quarter, the only Midwest representative was Madison-based Wisconsin Investment Partners.
—Cerner’s $1.3 billion cash acquisition of Siemens Health Services was a bold move that could have big implications for the electronic health records software field. The deal not only combines two of the big names in the industry, but it also strengthens the top competitor to Verona-based market leader Epic Systems.
—Madison-based Cellectar Biosciences filed an investigational new drug application with the FDA to begin clinical studies testing one of its drug candidates in patients with multiple myeloma, a plasma cell cancer. The compound is designed to be a vehicle that delivers radioactive material directly to cancer cells, meaning it should unload toxins at the site of disease and minimize the damage to healthy tissue. The company, whose stock is currently traded over the counter, has also applied to trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
—Rick Anderson, a veteran healthtech executive whose career includes a high-level position with WebMD, was named CEO of Milwaukee-based Smart Choice MRI, a provider of flat-rate MRI services in Wisconsin. The company announced a new management team as part of a planned Midwest expansion. Anderson previously served as senior vice president for Sharecare, the health and wellness software platform co-founded by Dr. Mehmet Oz of TV fame. In the late 1990s, Anderson served as director of national accounts for WebMD. He also co-founded Milwaukee-based startup Alithias, a healthcare cost comparison tool.
