VENTURE CAPITAL POST

New York-based hedge fund Visium Asset Management is facing probe by the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and Justice Department over its trading and valuation issues. Visium's exposure to healthcare sector is under scanner.

A startup offering online eye tests received a $6 million funding in a Series A round to help expand the coverage of its service as well as acquiring more advanced technologies. The company claims that their services are clinically proven and accurate, in addition to being more convenient and affordable.

MindMaze has secured a total of $100 million funds from an early round led by India’s Hinduja Group. MindMaze, which until now is focusing on developing virtual reality interfaces in the healthcare sector aims to form future contracts and service centers, as well as expanding the technology for other uses in the form of gaming, educational and fitness applications.

Abbott said that it has signed a definitive deal to acquire Alere for a net value of $5.8 billion in cash. Abbott expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive to its earnings per share upon completion.

The healthcare industry has yet to see a service that could completely change the industry similar to how Uber and Airbnb change their respective industries. Industry professionals give their opinion on what could become the big game-changer for the healthcare industry.

Pfizer today confirmed that the company has increased the price of some of its drugs although it was not revealed how many drugs are involved with the price hike. According to a data by Wolters Kluwer which revealed that more than 100 types of drugs has been increased in its price starting on January 1st.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday a proposal that would prohibit smoking in public homes nationwide. According to The New York Times, the proposed federal rule would affect 1.2 million public households and would mark the latest move to minimize unwanted exposure to secondhand smoke.

HTC Vive will release its virtual reality headset later this year, but only in limited qualities and it will take three to five years before it goes mainstream.

Too much drinking is not only bad for the health but also seeps out the U.S. economy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a study on Thursday that binge drinking loses the economy a humongous "$249 billion in 2010, or $2.05 per drink, a significant increase from$223.5 billion, or $1.90 per drink, in 2006."

Doctors, hospitals and healthcare groups criticized the proposed merger of four major insurances, saying that it could lead to harm for the healthcare industry.

Internet of Things (IoT) is poised to become a $7-trillion market over next five years on the most conservative basis and 50 billion new connections during the same period. Some other project the mobile wallet industry will be worth $14.4-trillion market in the near future.

ZocDoc Inc. is a New York digital health scheduling company that was founded in 2007. At that time, it offers a free-of-charge medical care research facility for users by combining information about medical practices and doctors' individual schedules in a central location.

Drugstore operator CVS Health Corp (CVS.N) will buy Target Corp's (TGT.N) pharmacies and clinics in a $1.9 billion deal that should help it bargain with drug makers for lower prices, while freeing Target from a costly business where it struggled to make a profit.

Stocks fell on Wall Street on Monday as investors fretted over the consequences of a possible debt default by Greece, but talk of multi-billion dollar healthcare deals buoyed shares in the sector, cutting into the market's loss.

Last July, when Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen spurred a sell-off in healthcare stocks by saying that valuations in shares of biotech companies looked "stretched," portfolio manager Graham Tanaka saw an opportunity.