Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2017 Revealed

Now in its 14th year, Cleveland Clinic’s Medical Innovation Summit is the oldest and largest meeting of its kind in healthcare. The perennial highlight? The unveiling of the top 10 medical advancements for the coming year — those that Cleveland Clinic experts predict will change patient care forever.

Here are their picks for 2017, in order of anticipated importance:

1. Using the microbiome to prevent, diagnose and treat disease

Microbes in our bodies — and the chemicals they emit — interfere with the way food is digested, medicine is deployed and even how a disease progresses.

Biotech companies once focused on the genomic market are pivoting to the potential of the microbiome to develop new diagnostics, new therapies and “probiotic” products to prevent dangerous microbe imbalances.

With the National Microbiome Initiative’s accelerating research and development, experts believe 2017 is the year the microbiome becomes the healthcare industry’s most promising and lucrative frontier.

2. Diabetes drugs that reduce cardiovascular disease and death

Half of patients with Type 2 diabetes will die from complications of cardiovascular disease. On their 65th birthdays, the odds go up to 70 percent.

In 2016, two new medications began reducing the mortality rates considerably. Empagliflozin modifies the progression of heart disease by working with the kidney while liraglutide has a comprehensive effect on many organs.

Given these positive results, experts predict 2017 will mark a complete shift in the lineup of medicines prescribed for diabetes patients — as well as a wave of research into new avenues targeting Type 2 diabetes and its comorbidities.

3. Cellular immunotherapy to treat leukemia and lymphomas

One of the first cellular immunotherapies for leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphomas is about to hit the market. Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies are a type of immunotherapy where a patient’s immune system T-cells are removed and genetically reprogrammed to seek and destroy tumor cells.

Results have been impressive. Some studies focusing on acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have reported a remission rate of 90 percent.

This groundbreaking treatment is expected to be presented to the FDA in 2017 for treatment of ALL. That could trigger a wave of approvals for other blood cancers and lymphomas as well. Cellular immunotherapy could one day replace chemotherapy and its lifetime of side effects.

4. Liquid biopsies to find circulating tumor DNA

Tests known as “liquid biopsies” uncover signs of actual DNA, or cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), which is shed from a tumor into the bloodstream. This ctDNA is more than 100 times more abundant in the blood than tumor cells.

While studies are still underway, annual sales of this revolutionary cancer test are forecast to be $10 billion. Several companies are developing testing kits to hit the market this year.

Liquid biopsy is being hailed as a flagship technology of the federal government’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative. Experts believe it’s only a matter of time before catching and treating cancer is as routine as an annual checkup.

5. Automated car safety features and driverless capabilities

With more than 38,000 fatal car crashes in the U.S. in 2015, automobile accidents remain a leading cause of death and disability — not to mention a major expense. Annual medical costs are nearly $23 billion.

New automatic safety features promise to make a dent in dangerous car accidents. These range from collision warning systems to drowsiness alerts to adaptive cruise control. More are coming. Safety technology is expected to surge in 2017, a year before the U.S. Department of Transportation mandates backup cameras in all cars.

Meanwhile, there is a grander notion to remove all human error from vehicle transportation. The nation’s biggest software, private transportation and auto manufacturing companies are making huge investments in driverless cars. Safety and legal questions remain, but 2017 is expected to be the year that driverless cars enter the mainstream.

6. Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources

It has become increasingly difficult to safely and efficiently share patient data between healthcare providers. In-house information technology (IT) systems have become so diverse, that it’s hard for them to communicate with each other.

FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), a new tool developed according to Health Level Seven (HL7) standards, will act as an interpreter between two healthcare systems or offices. The first release will focus on clinical data, like images and medications, while the second will focus on administrative data, like billing and demographics.

FHIR blazes the way for a surge of life-saving health information technology.

7. Ketamine for treatment-resistant depression

For one-third of U.S. patients with depression, standard medications aren’t enough. With nearly 43,000 suicides a year, the need for effective treatment looms large.

In 2013, ketamine, a drug commonly used for anesthesia, was studied for its ability to target and inhibit the action of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors of nerve cells. The results were overwhelmingly favorable. Studies indicated that 70 percent of patients with treatment-resistant depression saw an improvement in symptoms within 24 hours of receiving ketamine. For the first time, there was a fast treatment for the severely depressed.

The studies prompted the FDA to grant fast-track status for the development of new NMDA-receptor-targeting medications. Some, like esketamine, have received breakthrough designation from the FDA, making it more likely that they will become available to patients in 2017.

8. 3-D visualization and augmented reality for surgery

Surgeons rely on microscope oculars or other camera systems to operate. However, they typically depend on their own eyes and interpretations to execute the most precise tasks — with their heads down, peripheral vision limited, and back and neck muscles strained.

This past year, two of the most intricate surgical fields, neurosurgery and retinal microsurgery, began experimenting with technology that keeps surgeons’ heads up while immersing them in a high-resolution, 3-D visual representation of their subject. These stereoscopic systems also use data to generate visual templates for surgeons to execute certain tasks.

Those who have piloted the technology say the added comfort and visual information will allow surgeons to operate more efficiently and effectively. Several hospitals will be adopting these virtual reality tools in 2017.

9. Self-administered HPV test

Most sexually active women contract human papillomavirus (HPV). Certain strains of HPV are responsible for 99 percent of cases of cervical cancer.

Despite great strides in HPV prevention and treatment, the benefits are restricted to a small population — women with access to HPV tests and vaccines.

To expand access, scientists have developed self-administered HPV test kits that include a test tube, a swab and a mail-in box. Women can administer their own test, mail a sample back to a lab and be alerted to dangerous strains of HPV.

Experts believe 2017 will be the year these tests are deployed on a large scale, representing the biggest prevention effort for cervical cancer to date.

10. Bioabsorbable stents

Every year, 600,000 people have metal coronary stents put into their chests to treat coronary artery blockage. Most of the time, that stent stays there forever, long after its mission is complete. The stents can make some scans and future surgeries difficult and may cause other complications, like blood clots.

But what if they could just disappear?

This past July, the first bioabsorbable stent was approved in the United States. Made of a naturally dissolving polymer, the stent widens the clogged artery for two years before it is absorbed into the body in a manner similar to dissolvable sutures.

Experts believe the market potential of bioabsorbable stents will approach $2 billion within six years.

Source: https://goo.gl/T2tzEM

Can you get rich by investing in a startup? How to do it — and the pros and cons of crowdfunding

Jurgen Ziewe | Getty Images

In May 2016, a law took effect that allows anyone to invest at least some of their cash in startup companies. Until then, buying a stake in a small private business was something only wealthier investors could do. But now, similar to Kickstarter, there are a host of crowdfunding platforms that will allow you to invest in all kinds of startups, from tech brands to food trucks. And unlike with Kickstarter, once you invest, you'll own a stake in the business and will have the ability to cash out — potentially after making big gains.

It's all possible thanks to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) act, which allows anyone to invest in certain vetted startups. Vetted, in this case, means the startup has been listed on an online debt or equity crowdfunding portal that itself has been cleared by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authorityto list startups raising money. These portals must prove that investors' funds are protected from theft or computer malfunction, and nobody is engaged in unethical acts of pay-to-play.

To protect you from losing your life savings, there are other rules. Per FINRA and the SEC, if you have less than $107,000 in the bank, you can invest either $2,200 a year, or 5% of your income or net worth (whichever is lower). If both your annual income and your net worth are equal to or more than $107,000, then you can invest up to 10% of your annual income or net worth, whichever is lower. These were the rules Congress set up so that regular people without high net worths don't go all-in on one company.

Not everyone is rushing in. One year into startup crowdfunding, interest has been mixed: "Everyone in the industry thought there'd be more uptake," Richard Swart, chief strategy officer at NextGen, told Bloomberg. "We all expected these numbers to be 2x to 5x what these numbers were."

So just because you can does it mean you should invest in start-ups ?

But Swart said in an interview with Mic he believes young investors looking to diversify their portfolios should still consider investing in startups. Is he right? Here is how experts say one should approach this type of investing, including the potential risks and rewards — plus how to get started, if it is the right fit.

Why investing in crowdfunded startups could be smart

If you end up getting lucky and putting your cash into a successful 

startup that eventually gets bought or even goes public, you could multiply your cash over just a few years. As Swart said in an email, it could "be like an exit from an angel round where an investor would be looking for returns of 10x to 20x what they initially invested." That would be like turning $2,000 into $20,000 to $40,000. And if you get super lucky, like an early Instagram investor, you might multiply your investment more than 300 times over.

But those are best-case scenarios, and because the area so new, there's not much reliable data on what kind of average payouts to expect if you invest in a startup. Swart said he's seen decent, if more down-to-earth returns from startup crowdfunding in Europe. A successful investment in a startup "would be better than an index fund, better than the S&P 500," he said. For Swart, regulated crowdfunding represents the first time an average investor can enjoy the same high-risk, high-reward opportunities as a private equity investor. "The return on a seed-stage investment can be really high," he said.

One business now raising money is Cinco TacoBar in San Leandro, California. It was already a highly-rated restaurant and the company is now crowdfunding for a second location. This allowed investors to make loans in a company with a proven track record, and be part of the company's growing success story.

Companies like Cinco also communicate with the backer about their idea, and what might be done to improve it. For example, here is their running dialogue with their investors. Swart says this connectedness is another reason, besides making money, to invest in startups. "The social logic [to regulated crowdfunding] is that you care about the company doing it," for example if you're really into backing a food company, Swart said. "It's the same logic as Kickstarter or Indiegogo."

Source: Cinco Taco Bar | Facebook

A Cinco Taco Bar location preparing to open.

Regulated crowdfunding has been a boon for the startups themselves. "Access to resources and capital, in particular, is our biggest challenge," Bernard Loyd told the Wall Street Journal. Loyd is president of Urban Juncture Inc., a community development firm working to revitalize Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood. "I believe there are people who would like to contribute to the revitalization of communities like this, but don't have access to the information to do so."

Why investing in a startup could be a mistake

What's the biggest reason not to invest? Most startups fail — about half don't even make it four years. And even if they do succeed, the value of your equity in the company might not be realized for years, when the company is acquired or goes public. "As it's a startup, you're not going to see any dividends — all the profits are going to be plowed back into growth," Swart said.

The one exception is if you use a platform that allows you to make a loan to the company, in which case you'll see regular but lower returns from interest payments. For instance, on the platform NextSeed, you could lend a food truck company any amount of money you want, and they pay you back at a guaranteed interest rate of 15% (except in the case of default, which is always a risk). A loan is different from an investment, where you aren't guaranteed to see any returns.

One major reason to be careful about investing in a small private business is because there's likely no market for trading your shares once you've invested. That means that you can't always sell it to someone else, even if you think your share has increased increased in value. Compare that with a stock or bond, which have liquid markets, like the New York Stock Exchange, where you can sell your shares to a total stranger who thinks it will be even worth more later.

Also, as the New York Times has pointed out, there is early evidence that some crowdfunding portals are not being properly regulated. SeedInvest founder Ryan Feit told the paper he had turned away "dozens of companies that wanted to raise money from investors on his site "that had clear red flags," only to find they had successfully landed at other portals.

As with all finance offerings, each of the companies is required to disclose material risks to the company to investors, and some of these can be quite long and scary-sounding. For instance, Crema.Co, a coffee subscription startup that gives you monthly deliveries of coffee beans from around the country, says in its risk report, "We may not have enough funds to sustain the business until it becomes profitable." They add that they may be underestimating how much money they need, and how quickly: "Even if we raise funds through a crowdfunding round, we may not accurately anticipate how quickly we may use the funds and if it is sufficient to bring the business to profitability."

They note that they're not even making any money right now — they've lost about the same amount of money the past two years. "Until the company achieves profitability, it will have to seek other sources of capital in order to continue operations," they say. Indeed, given that these companies are not public, many don't have a track record: Swart points out lots of research should be involved before you make any kind of move.

Watch: Start-ups compete at Y-Combinator

How to invest in startups

Assuming you have about $2,000 or so on hand to invest — and you are financially secure enough to risk losing it all — you've got lots of options for investing in a startup. All the platforms doing regulated crowdfunding can be found here, via FINRA. We'll walk you through three popular choices: SeedInvest, NextSeed and WeFunder.

SeedInvest offers equity funding for dozens of startups, though some are limited to wealthier investors (officially known as "accredited investors"— investors with net worths exceeding $1 million or annual incomes of $200,000). SeedInvest is a fully regulated broker-dealer, meaning they do extra amounts of vetting on the companies they display on their platform. Swart says that that doesn't necessarily mean they're more likely to succeed, just that some of the work has been taken care of for you. They charge a 2% non-refundable processing fee (up to $300) per investment.

NextSeed is debt financing crowdfunding. Basically, you're making loans to startups. Their offerings are a bit more limited; as of June 27, there were just three companies you could invest in — a co-working concept, a wine shop, and a restaurant. You don't get any shares in the companies, but you do provide needed funding to cool companies and guaranteed returns. NextSeed is free to invest with.

WeFunder claims to be the largest funding portal by dollars raised, number of companies funded and number of investors: more than 100,000, according to the company. But they are not a broker-dealer, so they've done less due diligence on the companies they advertise. WeFunder charges investors up to 2% of their investment (minimum: $7, maximum: $75).

By Rob Wile

Source: https://goo.gl/TGt6mN

Bull of the Day: MercadoLibre (MELI)

MELI BABA AMZN

MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI - Free Report) is gaining momentum as it takes on Amazon in the online shopping wars in Latin America. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to see 46% sales growth in 2017.

MercadoLibre is the largest online commerce and payments site in Latin America. It is the eBay/Amazon of the region with websites serving 18 countries including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela and Peru.

It operates MercadoLibre sites in each country as well as its online payment service MercadoPago.

Big Beat as Sales Soar

On May 4, MercadoLibre reported its first quarter results and crushed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 32 cents. Earnings were $1.10 versus the consensus of $0.78.

Revenue soared 73.8% in US dollars and 78.9% on an FX neutral basis on strong growth in Brazil and Mexico, which grew 52.7% and 70.7%, respectively.

Sold items were up 38.6% while payment transactions through MercadoPago spiked 60.1% to 44.1 million.

In Mexico, items shipped rose 220% year-over-year to $2.6 million but gross margins fell 61.1% from 64.8% a year ago due to free Mexican shipping. Amazon recently entered the market in Mexico so the competition, especially with free shipping, is heating up.

Estimates Rise for 2017 and 2018

After the big blow out quarter, the analysts raced to raise full year 2017 and 2018 estimates.

4 estimates were raised over the last 60 days for this year which has pushed up the 2017 Zacks Consensus to $4.67 from $4.31. That's earnings growth of 34% as the company made just $3.48 in 2016.

They are also bullish on 2018 as the Zacks Consensus has jumped to $6.61 from $5.87 during the last 2 months. That's earnings growth of 41%.

Shares At Multi-Year Highs

With those kinds of numbers, is it any surprise that the shares spiked to new highs? Here's what the 5-year chart looks like.

The stock isn't cheap . It has a forward P/E of 61 so clearly you are buying it as a growth stock. However, it actually does pay a dividend, which is currently yielding 0.2%.

The company has solid cash flow as well and had $300 million cash on hand as of March 31, 2017.

Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Alibaba (BABA - Free Report) aren't the only games in town in online shopping. There are 650 million possible shoppers in Latin America and MercadoLibre, which was founded in 1999, was first in.

For those investors interested in owning the global leaders in e-commerce, MercadoLibre should be on your short list.

By Tracey Reniec

Source:https://goo.gl/YcsF1e

Five Reasons To Invest In India

 3 comments  |  Includes: INCO, INXX, SCIN

Disclosure: The author has no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. (More...)

Summary

• Since the May 2014 election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has outperformed other emerging markets in response to a strong reform agenda1.
• Reasons investors should consider India include reforms, GDP growth, fiscal discipline, earnings growth and favorable valuations.
• Investors considering equity allocations to India should keep in mind potential growth in the consumer, infrastructure, and economically sensitive companies, such as small cap companies.

Since the historic election of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last May, India's market has shown few signs of slowing down. In 2014, India was the best-performing emerging market, up more than 29%, and it continues to outperform this year as well.² We believe the market has responded favorably to the robust agenda of reform under the Modi administration, as many believe his policies will enhance India's economic potential.

There are numerous reasons why investors should consider India now and over the long term. Here, we highlight the five key reasons to invest in India right now.

1. Reforms matter

Those emerging market countries that are actively undertaking reform, which we call the "Fab Five" (India, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines and China), are expected to revive economic growth. Investors are eager to see reforms carried out as a growth catalyst and have rewarded countries such as India (see Figure 1).

The reforms put forth by the new Indian government under Prime Minister Modi intend to privatize state assets (especially the financials and power sectors), increase foreign direct investment, reduce the fiscal deficit by cutting subsidies, deregulate the labor market, upgrade infrastructure and reform the tax regime. We believe these improvements should unleash investment, increase efficiency, raise productivity and boost growth.

2. Favorable demographics and Gross Domestic Product [GDP] growth

The world's largest democracy, India is home to 1.25 billion people, with more than 65% of the population younger than 35. By 2025, India is projected to be the world's most populous country with almost 1.4 billion people. In addition to its population, India's total labor force will continue to grow relatively quickly, by about 1.5% annually. By 2030, there will be about 174 million net new members of the country's labor force.⁴

Furthermore, India's GDP is expected to expand more this year, and is forecasted to be 6.3%, compared to 4.3% in emerging and developing economies (see Figure 2).⁵ By 2016, India's GDP is expected to surpass China's. Today, growth opportunities are very scarce within emerging markets and India is a rare growth opportunity for investors.

3. Fiscal and monetary discipline

The lower price of oil and better fiscal management, including cutting government subsidies, are helping to reduce India's fiscal deficit. India is also focused on managing inflation, which helps the central bank to lower interest rates (see Figure 3). In particular, a strengthening rupee prevents the erosion of return for U.S. investors. Collectively, lower interest rates, lower inflation and lower commodity prices all help to put money in the pockets of consumers and accelerate domestic demand growth.