“Being privately held and being a pure play spine company has given us the focus, the resourcing and the investment we need to, to really take this thing and make it hum,” Highridge’s CEO Rebecca Whitney says about the 7th largest spine company. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Whitney sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview about the path to a private company from a subsidiary under a major, publicly traded ortho company. As an independent company, she explains how it can be nimble in M&A, including the acquisition of key expandable spinal implants from Accelus and the recent PathKeeper agreement, both of which augment Highridge’s portfolio that houses its Mobi-C cervical disc replacement system and Tether motion preservation system. She also explains the importance of saying yes to new roles to build your career trajectory.

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“We’re going to continue to drive innovation across the entire product portfolio, which also includes how we manufacture sensors,” Dexcom CEO Jake Leach tells Bloomberg Intelligence, outlining the company’s strategy to expand the use of continuous glucose monitors to more diabetic patients and beyond. In this Vanguards of Health Care podcast episode, Leach joins BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth discussion on Dexcom’s transition to the G7 15 Day sensor, aimed to reduce the frequency of changing sensors, as well as clinical data efforts to expand reimbursement to diabetic patients not on insulin and updates on the next-generation G8. He also reflects on his 22-year journey at Dexcom, rising from an engineer on a 30-person team to CEO of an 11,000-employee company.

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“We’re empowering health-care providers with unprecedented clinical depth in a compact portable form factor,” AliveCor CEO Priya Abani says about the development of its AI-enabled electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors, which provide medical-grade heart data anytime and anywhere. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Abani sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth discussion about the expansion of AliveCor’s Kardia 12L device, which gives physicians a smaller, more portable ECG option. The company has widened the device’s indications to 39 cardiac conditions, established a new Category III reimbursement code and continues to train its algorithm using 1 million ECGs. Abani also talks about how her time at Amazon.com influenced her perspective on the interaction of technology and the human experience.

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“I suspect that RNAi-based medicines will approach, rival, maybe even exceed what we’ve seen with monoclonal antibodies historically,” says John Maraganore, the CEO of JMM Innovations and founding CEO of Alnylam. He joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s senior pharmaceutical analyst Sam Fazeli to reflect on RNAi’s journey from scientific curiosity to durable drug platform. Maraganore explains Alnylam’s reliance on big pharma partnerships for relatively non-dilutive capital, why rare diseases were the right entry point for commercialization and how mission-first culture sustained the company. He also discusses biotech’s “Sputnik moment,” FDA efficiency and where AI is already delivering real impact in drug discovery.

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“One of our busy surgeons said, when they do an aprevo procedure, it’s a boring day in the OR and that’s actually a good thing,” Carlsmed’s CEO Mike Cordonnier tells Bloomberg Intelligence, as he explains how the use of AI technology is the future for spine procedures. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Cordonnier sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview about the design of the aprevo system, with its customized implants. He dives further into how aprevo reduces planning time, provides better alignment and lowers revision rates, creating favorable economics for hospitals. Other highlights from the episode include how he combined his experience across medtech and software to build this novel AI approach.

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“Now we’re seeing how there are new medicines that act directly on the heart itself and less on downstream consequences of heart disease,” says Robert Blum, president and CEO of Cytokinetics. On this episode of Vanguards of Health Care, Blum speaks with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Andrew Galler about Cytokinetics’ transition to a commercial-stage company following the approval of Myqorzo, its competitive positioning in the obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy market, and its potential to differentiate from competitors with upcoming ACACIA-HCM data. They also discuss Cytokinetics’ pipeline, which includes multiple assets targeting heart failure.

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“Health care creates friction everywhere — copays, approvals, pre-authorizations — and none of that matters when someone you love needs help right now,” says Glen Tullman, CEO of Transcarent, in his return to the Vanguards of Health Care podcast to explain why speed, access and simplicity are existential issues in US health care. In a wide-ranging conversation with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer, Tullman outlines Transcarent’s vision for delivering 24/7 care through an AI-first, mobile-native platform. He discusses why legacy navigation models fail consumers, how the Accolade acquisition accelerates Transcarent’s strategy and why WayFinding reframes benefits, clinical guidance and care delivery into a single real-time experience designed around human urgency — not the administrative process.

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Despite all the noise -- tariffs, regulation, geopolitics -- the fundamentals are amazing, because our companies save people’s lives and the demand for innovation is absolutely real.” says Antoine Papiernik, Sofinnova Partners Chairman and Managing Partner. Speaking with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli, Papiernik explains why biotech remains a defensive, long-duration industry. He details how Sofinnova leverages AI to connect decades of proprietary data, uncovering emerging science across Europe to identify the next generation of biotech leaders. The discussion also covers the rise of AI-native drug discovery, the impending pharma patent cliff, and why capital is flowing toward platforms that deliver real clinical impact.

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