September 11, 2026

Apple Adds Lab Testing, Salomon Bets on IRONMAN, Lilly Expands Into Women’s Health

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Distribution is a competitive advantage in digital health.

Apple takes on Oura

Apple is coming for the health-tracking features that helped make Oura and WHOOP major players in wearables.

  • The new Apple Watch updates add a readiness score, more frequent heart-rate and HRV measurements, a new Health Age feature, and AI-powered analysis combining wearable and lab data.
  • Apple is also launching a $119 blood-testing panel with more than 50 biomarkers, bookable through the Health app.

Apple’s advantage is distribution. While Oura and WHOOP have about 5M and 3M paid members, respectively, Apple claims 100M+ active Apple Watch users.

For competitors, the challenge is now differentiation as Apple layers similar health insights and coaching with hardware, software, labs, and Apple Intelligence.

Salomon takes Kona

Salomon is making a major push into triathlon with a five-year global partnership with IRONMAN.

  • Starting in 2027, Salomon will become an IRONMAN Global Premier Partner through 2031, with exclusive rights across performance footwear, apparel, and technical bags. It will also become title partner of the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
  • The deal gives Salomon naming rights, plus opportunities to test products with athletes and develop gear specifically for middle- and long-distance triathlon — a strategic expansion from trail and mountain sports into one of endurance’s biggest global communities.

A strategic expansion from its trail and mountain sports, Salomon is positioning itself around that entire endurance lifestyle rather as athletes embrace multiple disciplines.

Lilly’s GLP-1 windfall fuels women’s health push

Eli Lilly is expanding R&D in women’s health, recruiting scientists and expanding its leadership focus across areas including osteoporosis, preeclampsia, pregnancy-related disorders, and endometriosis.

  • The move comes as Lilly’s cardiometabolic business, led by Mounjaro and Zepbound, heads toward an estimated $70B in annual revenue.
  • Now, the company is looking for ways to extend that momentum into areas of women’s health that have historically received relatively little investment.

For Lilly, the strategy is straightforward: use the cash and capabilities created by the GLP-1 boom to build its next generation of medicines — and women’s health could become a major part of it.

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