From Pokemon Go to… Pokemon Sleep?—Brainstorm Health

The Pokemon Go phenomenon (if anyone needs a refresher course on just what the mobile gaming app sensation is, and just how much money its brought in since its initial heyday in 2016, here’s some assistance) is headed into the digital wellness space.

Pokemon Company executives announced the new Pokemon Sleep product as part of a suite of new apps and devices. Much in the same way that the original Pokemon Go game, which encouraged users to walk around their neighborhoods in a quest to catch Pokemon, led (at least temporarily) to a spike in those gamers’ walking minutes, Pokemon Sleep seeks to gamify a good night’s rest.

“We’re pleased to announce the development of Pokémon Sleep, a new app from @Pokemon_cojp that tracks a user’s time sleeping and brings a gameplay experience unlike any other! Several Snorlax were consulted on this, in case you were wondering. #PokemonSleep is coming in 2020,” the company wrote in a tweet.

Apparently the app will require the use of a new device called the Pokemon Go Plus Plus. It would allow users to “train” their Pokemon while sleeping after walking around playing the original Pokemon Go during the day. It would also track sleeping data since users would put the device on their bedside pillow.

Look, this stuff is obviously geared toward a younger crowd. But, to be fair, that’s also the crowd that benefits the most from a full night of healthy sleep. Who knows – maybe it’ll get some of the young’uns to get some shuteye!

Read on for the day’s news.

DIGITAL HEALTH

Altoida raises $6.3 million for Alzheimer's detection platform. MobiHealthNews reports that digital health upstart Altoida has raised $6.3 million in a Series A funding round to support its Alzheimer's detection platform. The company is attempting to develop tools that can help detect signs of cognitive decline early on, with a recognition that detection and prevention may wind up being significantly more effective in the space than any treatments currently on the market. (MobiHealthNews)

INDICATIONS

Cancer biotech Genmab files U.S. IPO. Denmark-based Genmab has filed for a U.S. public offering on the NASDAQ, filing to raise as much as $500 million to support its cancer drug development ambitions. Genmab has enjoyed a number of clinical successes later sold off to larger pharmaceutical companies; the NASDAQ filing, though, highlights a strategy among certain pharmaceutical firms to diversify their cash-raising avenues (one analogue being dual-listings between the U.S. and Hong Kong). (FierceBiotech)

THE BIG PICTURE

A strict new abortion ban to be signed by a Democrat. Louisiana is slated to become at least the fifth U.S. state with a "fetal heartbeat" abortion bill which would restrict the practice for women who are just six weeks into their pregnancies (a time when many women don't even know that they're pregnant). These laws have been passed largely in conservative southern and Midwestern states. This time, there's a twist: Louisiana's governor is a Democrat, and the law in question was supported by a considerable number of Democratic lawmakers. The governor has previously stated he considers himself pro-life despite opposition from many other members of the party. (Reuters)

REQUIRED READING

This Recession Predictor Just Hit the Highest Levels Since 2007, by Mary Romano

The Indian Elections Had an Unlikely Influence - Immigrants in the U.S., by Mythili Sampathkumar

Investment Banks Are Pressing 'Play' on Podcasts, by Rey Mashayekhi

How the Trump Administration Wants to Speed Up the Arrival of 5G Wireless, by Aaron Pressman