Good day. Score one for the investors who stuck with vaccines.

While vaccines for infectious diseases haven’t been a hot area for venture capital recently, three acquisitions by Eli Lilly this week rewarded investors who remained in the sector. Lilly has agreed to deals with a combined value of nearly $4 billion to acquire Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics and Vaccine Company. 

Political headwinds have damped vaccines’ appeal for many venture capitalists, but some maintain that the long-term outlook remains bright because of the need to protect against new pathogens and improve existing immunizations.

Lilly said it would pay up to $1.5 billion to acquire Curevo, whose shingles vaccine may be as effective as the current standard but have fewer side effects.

LimmaTech, which is being acquired for up to $780 million, is advancing vaccines for bacterial pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus. Meantime, Vaccine Company, developer of a vaccine for Epstein-Barr virus, agreed to be bought for up to $1.55 billion.

Giovanni Mariggi, co-founder and a partner with Curevo investor Medicxi, said pathogens are constantly evolving, creating opportunities for startups to develop vaccines against them. Short-term political noise doesn’t detract from vaccines’ health benefits, or their appeal to Medicxi, he said.

“It’s an unmet need that continues to evolve,” Mariggi added.

And now on to the news...

Weight loss and muscle loss. GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro and Zepbound have been a success for public health and the pharmaceutical companies that make them. Obesity rates are falling, the volume of food consumed in America is declining and retailers report a slump in sales of plus-size apparel. It has improved health and happiness for millions of people.

• But for at least some of the 13 million Americans taking them, losing muscle along with fat is an unexpected downside that isn’t broadly discussed or immediately apparent.
   
• The drugs can cause rapid and significant loss of lean muscle mass, up to 10%, comparable to a decade or more of aging, according to an analysis published by the American Diabetes Association.
   
• The loss of lean tissue is similar to weight loss from dieting, but the magnitude over a short period can lead to frailty, instability and lack of coordination. Another concern is that losing muscle could slow down patients’ metabolism, leading to weight regain. “We are curing obesity by encouraging frailty,” said Daniel Green, principal research fellow at the University of Western Australia, who contributed to the analysis.  

A new class of drugs is poised to take on an insidious cause of heart attacks and strokes that has eluded treatment for decades. Researchers could know as soon as this summer whether the most advanced experimental drug, from Novartis and its partner Ionis Pharmaceuticals, cuts heart attacks, strokes and deaths in a study that could be used to get their drug approved by next year. Amgen  and Eli Lilly are also developing medicines that lower the level of lipoprotein(a), a fatty particle in the blood that is known as Lp(a). It can cause plaque to build up in blood vessels and is linked to heart disease. Tens of millions of people in the U.S. have elevated Lp(a), an inherited and largely hidden driver of heart disease. 

People

Healthcare investor Catalio Capital Management named Pasquale Chiacchiari as principal and head of data science. He previously served as a quantitative equity researcher at Freestone Grove Partners.

Cancer therapeutics startup Delphia Therapeutics appointed David P. Kerstein as chief medical officer. He most recently served as CMO of IDRx.

Caregentic, a startup building AI infrastructure for continuous care operations, appointed Becky James as chief operating officer, Matteo Carli as chief product officer and Sanjay Mahadi as chief technology officer.

Nuclidium, a Swiss developer of copper-based radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, added 26 million Swiss francs (about $33 million) in Series B extension funding, bringing the round total to CHF 105 million. Investors included Kurma Growth Opportunities Fund, Angelini Ventures, Wellington Partners and Bayern Kapital.

Countable Labs, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based genomics measurement startup, picked up a $26 million investment. ARCH Venture Partners led the round, which included contributions from F-Prime Capital and Primer Ventures.

Triomics, a startup providing an AI platform for cancer centers, collected $22 million in Series B funding led by Battery Ventures.

Lucis, a preventive health platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Singular led the investment, which included participation from General Catalyst and others.

Signos, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based developer of an over-the-counter glucose monitoring system for weight management, landed a $20 million investment from GV and others.

Ember LifeSciences, a Westlake Village, Calif.-based pharmaceutical cold chain technology provider, secured an additional $10.5 million in funding, including strategic investments from Amgen Ventures and TDF Ventures.

Protuoso Biosciences, a San Carlos, Calif.-based protein engineering platform aiming to develop treatments for complex cardiometabolic, oncology and autoimmune diseases, closed a $9.5 million seed round led by Taya Venture and Darwin Ventures.

Reprogram Biosciences, a San Carlos, Calif.-headquartered startup developing mRNA-based therapeutics to treat solid tumors, added $5 million in seed funding from investors including Unshackled Ventures and 1517 Fund.

Paralign Health, a New York-based startup helping health plans partner with local fire departments and EMS agencies to proactively reach underserved patients in rural areas, was seeded with a $3 million investment led by Flyover Capital.

Cypher AI, a Boston-based startup building AI-native digital infrastructure for life science research and development, nabbed $2 million in seed funding led by MaC Venture Capital.

• Flavored Vapes Are Becoming More Readily Available. How Safe Are They?

• Ebola Outbreak Is Now Third Largest in History. Here’s What to Know.

• The Enigmatic Therapy That Saved my Life

• U.S. Towns Paid for Teachers and Cops to Use Weight-Loss Drugs. It Broke the Bank.

• How Bodybuilding Helped a Kidnapping Survivor Leave Her Comfort Zone

• Could gene editing eventually offer a ‘one-time’ treatment for CVD? (Medscape)
   
• Verge, following trial failure, rebrands its AI drug discovery ambitions (BioPharma Dive)
   
• KFF’s chief executive to retire (New York Times)
   
• The world is on track to miss its health targets (MIT Technology Review)

This newsletter was compiled by Zachary Cole and Brian Gormley. 

Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, and Brian Gormley.

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