| Katusa's Investment Insights |
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The Smartphone Revolution Medicine Missed |
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I want you to try something.
Pull out your smartphone. Look at it for a moment.
This device can guide you through traffic in real-time, recognize your face in milliseconds, and translate dozens of languages instantly.
Now consider this absurdity: When you get strep throat, your doctor still does exactly what doctors did in the 1950s – sticks a wooden paddle in your mouth, peers down your throat with a flashlight, and makes their best guess.
That guess, by the way, is wrong 70% of the time.
This is why doctors write six antibiotic prescriptions for every ten sore throats they see, even though only two or three actually need antibiotics. It's also why antibiotic resistance has become one of the World Health Organization's top five global health threats.
But that's about to change.
The Dental Pioneer Who Saw It Coming
Peter Whitehead isn't your typical medical innovator. He's the kind of entrepreneur who solves obvious problems that everyone else somehow misses.
His last invention – a dental imaging device called the VELscope – has been used in over 50 million oral examinations by more than 10,000 dental practitioners worldwide.
Now he's doing it again. And this time, the market is exponentially larger.
Whitehead and his team have spent eight years building something remarkable: an artificial intelligence system that can identify strep throat from a smartphone photo in seconds – with over 96% accuracy. |
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Think about what that means…
No more unnecessary doctor visits. No more guesswork. No more needless antibiotics.
Just pull out your phone, take a photo, and get an answer.
The Three Doors to Billions
Here's where it gets interesting. Most medical device companies have one path to market – the long, expensive FDA approval process.
But Whitehead's company has three simultaneous routes:
First, there's the direct-to-consumer wellness market. No FDA approval needed. Just launch the app and let people screen themselves before deciding if they need to see a doctor.
Second, they've partnered with a global healthcare platform that reaches 120,000 practitioners in emerging markets. These are places where access to quality healthcare is limited, but smartphones are everywhere.
Third, they're pursuing FDA approval, with clinical trials already designed in partnership with Carelon (part of Elevance Health).
Any one of these paths could build a billion-dollar company.
They're pursuing all three simultaneously.
Why This Matters Now
The former Chief Strategy Officer of Bristol Myers Squibb just joined the board. Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, and other healthcare giants are already involved. The company has secured patents across multiple jurisdictions.
Here's what fascinates us most…
While tech giants pour billions into counting steps and measuring sleep, this tiny company wants to turn every smartphone on earth into a medical testing device.
And strep throat is just the beginning.
The Hidden Urgency
600 million people get strep throat every year.
The world needs $100 billion in new solutions just to keep pace with antibiotic resistance.
And right now, a small company most people have never heard of is sitting on technology that could help solve both problems. Big Tech will eventually realize that smartphones can be used for real medical testing, not just wellness tracking. When that happens, who do you think they'll be looking to acquire?
On Monday we’ll reveal the name and ticker of this company.
Regards,
The Katusa Research Special Situations Team |
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