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Hinge Public Listing Could Lift Digital-Health IPO Hopefuls
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By Brian Gormley, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Hinge Health’s initial public offering will be closely watched as a harbinger for other digital-health companies also looking to make their stock-market debuts.
Hinge uses software, including artificial intelligence, to largely automate joint and muscle health and primarily serves self-insured employers. The company, which on Wednesday priced its IPO at $32, the top of its expected range, has a history of net losses but is making a turn toward profitability, reporting net income of $17.1 million for the three months ended March 31.
Hinge’s public listing on the New York Stock Exchange is the first major IPO for a venture-backed digital-health company in more than three years, according to PitchBook Data.
Digital health is relatively small compared to other sectors, so there haven’t been a large number of companies that are making a run at profitability and are ready for an IPO, said Aaron DeGagne, a PitchBook healthcare analyst.
Hinge’s IPO performance will be an indication of how the public markets view digital health. A strong showing would likely encourage more companies to go forward later this year and early in 2026, DeGagne said. Those awaiting their opportunity include virtual-care company Omada Health, which has filed for an IPO.
And now on to the news...
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Josh Wolfe, co-founder and partner at Lux Capital, at a forum in Washington last month. PHOTO: TASOS KATOPODIS/GETTY IMAGES
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Scientific funding. Lux Capital is stepping in to help academics advance technological discovery as federal funding for scientific research is chopped.
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The venture firm plans to invest at least $100 million to support academics pursuing promising research in sectors it invests in, such as biotech and artificial intelligence. In particular, it wants to help scientists with valuable early-stage research steer around depleted budgets and stifling bureaucracy so their efforts aren’t abandoned.
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Lux is “trying to help scientists find new paths so none of these great works end up as Rembrandts in the attic,” said Josh Wolfe, co-founder and partner at Lux.
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Lux’s new help line is an extension of the firm’s company-building practice, which it formalized last year into what it calls Lux Labs. Over its 25-year history, Lux has helped about two dozen companies launch by starting them from scratch or spinning them out of tech companies or universities.
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$470 Million
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The approximate amount drugmaker Sanofi agreed to pay to acquire Alzheimer’s disease drug developer Vigil Neuroscience.
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Sanofi to Buy Vigil Neuroscience for About $470 Million
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Sanofi said it entered an agreement to acquire Vigil Neuroscience for approximately $470 million, a deal that adds a new investigational treatment for Alzheimer’s disease to the French pharmaceutical company’s pipeline, The Wall Street Journal reports. The transaction would see Sanofi purchase all of Vigil’s outstanding shares for an upfront payment of $8 a share, the companies said Wednesday. Vigil’s shareholders would also receive the right to an additional $2 a share in cash, payable following the first commercial sale of the in-development Alzheimer’s disease treatment, if achieved within a set period. Including the possible later payout, the deal’s total
equity value could reach about $600 million. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter, and it isn’t expected to affect Sanofi’s outlook for 2025, the company said. Sanofi said the deal is centered around neurology–one of the company’s four strategic disease areas.
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Popular Fitness App Strava Clinches Valuation of More Than $2 Billion
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Strava, the popular running and exercise app, has completed a fresh round of fundraising valuing the business at $2.2 billion including debt, Chief Executive Mike Martin said. The company is also announcing its second acquisition in two months, WSJ reports.
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The latest fundraising round was led by Sequoia Capital and consisted of existing investors including TCV, Jackson Square Ventures and Go4it Capital, said Andrew Reed, a partner at Sequoia and a member of Strava’s board. After its last fundraising, which was in 2020, Strava was valued at more than $1.5 billion including debt.
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People
Arbor Biotechnologies, a developer of novel gene editing therapeutics targeting liver and central nervous system diseases, appointed Don Haut as chief business officer. He previously served as CBO at EG-427.
Augustine Therapeutics, a startup focused on developing new therapies for neuromuscular, neurodegenerative and cardio-metabolic diseases, appointed Rie Schultz Hansen as chief scientific officer. She was previously CSO at Aelin Therapeutics.
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Correction: Cognite appointed Geir Engdahl as chief technology officer, AI. An item in Wednesday's newsletter incorrectly omitted "AI" from his title.
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CellCentric, a U.K.-headquartered company developing a novel oral cancer drug to treat multiple myeloma, closed a $120 million Series C round co-led by RA Capital Management and Forbion.
ReproNovo, a Switzerland-headquartered startup focusing on reproductive medicine and women's health, scored $65 million in Series A funding led by Jeito Capital.
Dazos, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based customer relationship management platform for behavioral health providers, secured $25 million in Series A financing from Radian Capital.
Reperio Health, a Portland, Ore.-based provider of at-home and onsite health screenings with instant results, picked up a $14 million investment led by Caduceus Capital Partners.
Biostate AI, a Houston-based startup building generative AI that predicts the evolution of human disease and drug response based on RNA sequencing data, completed a $12 million Series A round led by Accel.
Persist AI, a startup utilizing AI-driven robotics in pharmaceutical development, closed a $12 million Series A round led by Spero Ventures. The company has offices in West Sacramento, Calif. and India.
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Former President Joe Biden PHOTO: ALEX BRANDON/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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America’s breakfast cereals are becoming less healthy, study finds (New York Times)
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Trump won’t force Medicaid to cover GLP-1s for obesity. A few states are doing it anyway (KFF Health News)
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CVS offers bonuses and pizza parties as perks to boost vaccine sales (Boston Globe)
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Roche strikes second Orionis deal to develop ‘molecular glues’ for cancer (BioPharma Dive)
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