Back in 2019, pre-Covid pandemic, we already saw attractive investment & business opportunities to meet the large and growing need in autoimmune and chronic immuno-inflammatory diseases. Despite being as prevalent as cancer and growing faster, these diseases remain invisible: under-recognized, under-researched and under-served. In particular, multiple medical specialty silos within and between healthcare systems mean fragmented, uncoordinated autoimmune care. This is costly, wasteful and frustrating for patients and providers. However, IT infrastructure and digital tools can help bridge these silos and fill gaps to deliver better care at lower costs.
This 33-slide deck covers disease prevalence and cost burden, patient journey pain points, other stakeholder pain points and many other issues. Our pre-covid, 2019 vision of autoimmune investment and business opportunities holds up surprisingly well after the post-pandemic changes in care delivery & regulations. This vision of patient-centered, digitally connected interdisciplinary care has attracted investment in virtual-first delivery models. Since the pandemic, we think V1C digital care delivery is not only here to stay, but poised to grow. That growth is most visible in chronic disease care, e.g., diabetes and hypertension. However investment is at last picking up steam for chronic autoimmune & inflammatory disease care.
State of Autoimmunity 2016 vision of business opportunities
Even earlier, we shared our market analysis in our 2016 Report on the State of Autoimmunity, Part 1 & Part 2. It focuses on then-emerging companies, some of which have gained traction, others of which have merged or disappeared. We include an earlier version of our patient-centric network vision.
State of Autoimmunity 2022: post-covid opportunities
We are currently working on our update: State of Autoimmunity 2022. This report examines how the covid pandemic disruption advanced digital health and virtual-first care delivery. It will also discuss the May 2022 NIH Report , which explains the continued invisibility of the autoimmune epidemic. We were shocked to learn there has never been a national effort to collect and aggregate statistics on autoimmune diseases! Moreover, the report recommends establishing a National Autoimmune Institute, along the lines of the National Cancer Institute. Such an agency would coordinate all Federal autoimmune research, with significant implications for data collection, research, medical education & care delivery. Come back for new posts as we complete our analysis.
Authors: DrBonnie360, Ellen M Martin & Emily Burns
We approach these thought leadership posts from our multi-lens perspectives.
- DrBonnie360: Clinical dentist, Wall Street analyst, patient, advocate, & digital health consultant.
- Ellen M Martin: Autoimmune caretaker, life science finance/investor relations/marketing communications; consultant, writer & editor.
- Emily Burns: Digital Health Equity Research Intern, Public Health Associate with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Strategic Consulting & Professional Services
We provide professional consulting services to investment, emerging and established companies. We bridge silos and fill gaps to help our clients improve healthcare and reduce costs for patients with autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disorders. Informed by patient and caretaker perspectives, we integrate the best of digital, conventional and functional approaches.
- We help our clients leverage digital innovations into virtual-first care for autoinflammatory & autoimmune patients.
- Our subject matter expertise includes: oral health, microbiome, autoimmune patient journey, competitive landscape analysis, strategic positioning & messaging, digital health, and self-hacking.
- We have decades of experience in finance, marketing and communications for dozens of healthcare and life sciences organizations, emerging and established.
- Our backgrounds include clinical dentistry, osteology, biotech IR/PR, marcomm, content creation, strategic consulting, and autoimmune advocacy.
Contact us for help understanding the market landscape, clarifying and articulating your company’s market position and strategy. Long before COVID, we were facilitating virtual sessions. We create compelling content: articles, blog posts, collateral, e-books, web copy and white papers. Our Autoimmune Connect/DrBonnie360 website showcases our own content.
