Good day. Boston-based Ginkgo Bioworks Inc. is working on a plan to routinely screen people for the novel coronavirus.

Ginkgo has raised more than $800 million in venture capital because of its ability to genetically program organisms for customers in markets as varied as flavors and fragrances and pharmaceuticals.

But this year Ginkgo has devoted much of its efforts to combatting the pandemic, including sequencing the new virus to help state public-health departments track the outbreak.

Now Ginkgo aims to use its sequencing expertise to screen asymptomatic people for Covid-19, co-founder and Chief Executive Jason Kelly said. Weekly screening of this population is an effective tool for containing the virus, he said.

Instead of testing individuals, Ginkgo plans to use pool testing to keep costs down. In a school, for example, nasal swabs would be taken from all students in a classroom once weekly. Ginkgo would test the pooled samples to find out if there is a positive case in that classroom. If there is, everybody in the class could go get a Covid-19 test to see if they have the virus, Dr. Kelly said.

Ginkgo plans to launch this effort soon at a Massachusetts school, he said, adding that if it goes well, “We would want to do it everywhere we could.”

And now on to the news...

Casting a wider net. Startups are using a powerful new genetic-sequencing tool called metagenomics to battle the novel coronavirus pandemic.

• The most commonly used molecular test for the new virus, PCR, is highly effective for providing yes-no answers about whether someone is infected.
   
• Startups such as Arc Bio LLC, IDbyDNA Inc. and Karius Inc. are pushing metagenomic testing, which sequences genetic material from all, or nearly all, of microbes in a sample. This can reveal not only the new virus but also hundreds or thousands of other microbes.
   
• Metagenomics can detect coinfections in Covid-19 patients and help researchers study the new virus. But some clinicians say more research is needed to understand how to to make effective use of all the data metagenomic tests yield.

Venture capitalists are beginning to heed calls to increase racial and gender diversity in their ranks and investment targets, according to a new survey from Morgan Stanley.

About three in five venture capitalists surveyed said the Black Lives Matter movement had influenced their investment strategy and more than two-thirds said they are more likely to invest in multicultural-founded companies in the coming year, the bank said Thursday.

Pfizer Inc. said it will ask health regulators to authorize its experimental Covid-19 vaccine within days, after reporting the shot was 95% effective in its pivotal study and showed signs of being safe. The company’s plans, announced Wednesday, mean the shot is on track to go into distribution by the end of the year, if the regulators permit.

• The news came more than a week after Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE said an early analysis of the vaccine showed strong efficacy, and days after biotech Moderna Inc. reported similarly positive preliminary results for its Covid-19 shot.

Funds

Qiming Venture Partners held the final closing of its Qiming Venture Partners Fund VII LP at $1.2 billion to focus on early-stage health-care and technology investments. Limited partners include endowments, foundations, family offices and private pensions. The Chinese firm currently manages nine U.S. dollar funds and six RMB funds with over $5.6 billion in assets under management.

People

Flagship Pioneering, which forms and backs health-care and sustainability startups, named Luciano Rossetti to the post of chief medical officer, as well as the company's first head of research and development for its newly formed initiative, Pioneering Medicines. Mr. Rossetti comes to Flagship after spending six years as global head of research and development at Merck KGaA.

Early-stage biotech investor Atlas Venture named Rajesh (Raj) Devraj as venture partner. He previously co-founded and served as chief scientific officer of Disarm Therapeutics. Earlier this month, Cambridge, Mass.-based Atlas invested in autoimmune and inflammatory disease drug developer Q32 Bio Inc.

Arch Oncology Inc., which is developing antibodies for the treatment of cancer, appointed Ronald Krasnow as chief operating officer. He was previously general counsel and chief compliance officer at Menlo Therapeutics Inc. In March 2019, Brisbane, Calif.-based Arch Oncology raised a $50 million Series B round from Lightchain, 3x5 Partners, RiverVest Venture Partners and Roche Venture Fund.

KBP Biosciences appointed Douglas W. Losordo to the newly created position of chief medical officer. Mr. Losordo joins the company from Caladrius Biosciences, where he was executive vice president, global head of research and development and chief medical officer. Princeton, N.J.-based KBP has raised funding from investors including Advantech Capital, SDIC Venture Capital, Sangel Capital and Ping An Ventures.

Exits

AbCellera Biologics Inc., which helps develop new antibody drugs, acquired Trianni Inc., which specializes in antibody discovery technology using transgenic mice, for $90 million in cash. Vancouver-based AbCellera raised $105 million in Series B funding in May from investors including DCVC Bio, OrbiMed, Eli Lilly, Founders Fund, Presight Capital and Viking Global Investors.

D3 Bio Inc., a Chinese developer of precision medicines for oncology and immunology, launched with $200 million in Series A funding from Boyu Capital, Matrix Partners China, Sequoia Capital China, Temasek and WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund.

Pharvaris GmbH, a Swiss startup developing treatments for hereditary angioedema, closed an $80 million Series C round. Viking Global Investors and General Atlantic co-led the funding, with participation from Cormorant Asset Management, Foresite Capital, Bain Capital Life Sciences, venBio Partners and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners.

Spring Health Inc., a New York-based provider of behavioral health benefits for employees, completed a $76 million Series B round. Tiger Global led the investment, which included support from GingerBread Capital, Operator Partners, Northzone, Rethink Impact, William K. Warren Foundation, Work-Bench, SemperVirens, Able Partners and True Capital.

Elevation Oncology, a New York-based developer of precision medicines for patients with genomically-defined cancers, scored $65 million in Series B funding led by venBio Partners and Cormorant Asset Management. Additional new investors Boxer Capital of Tavistock Group, Janus Henderson, Samsara Biocapital and Vivo Capital also participated in the round, along with existing backers Aisling Capital, Vertex Ventures HC, Qiming Venture Partners USA, Driehaus Capital Management and BVF Partners. In addition to the financing, Elevation Oncology promoted founder Shawn M. Leland to chief executive. Andrew Phillips from Cormorant Asset Management and Richard Gaster from venBio will join the company’s board.

K Health, a New York-based digital primary care system, picked up $42 million in Series D financing. Valor Equity Partners led the round, and was joined by Marcy Venture Partners, Atreides Management, PICO Venture Partners, 14W and Max Ventures.

InterVenn Biosciences, a South San Francisco, Calif.-based developer of a diagnostic for ovarian cancer, raised $34 million in Series B funding. Anzu Partners led the round, which included participation from Genoa Ventures, Amplify Partners, True Ventures and Xeraya Capital. Additionally, John Leite joined the company as chief business officer. He previously spent six years at Illumina. David Michael, managing partner at Anzu, was added to the board.

Headway, a New York-based startup that is building a national network of therapists who accept insurance, secured $26 million in Series A funding. Thrive Capital and GV led the round, which included participation from Accel, Global Founders Capital and IA Ventures.

Evommune Inc., a Los Altos, Calif.-based startup developing therapies to treat chronic inflammatory diseases, was seeded with a $12.5 million investment from Pivotal bioVenture Partners.

Levels, a New York-based developer of a biowearable system that provides real time feedback on how one’s diet impacts health, grabbed a $12 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Upfront Healthcare, a Chicago-based omnichannel communication and patient engagement platform, collected $11.5 million in Series B financing. Baird Capital and LRVHealth co-led the round, with additional support from Echo Health Ventures, Nashville Capital Network and Hyde Park Venture Partners.

Troy Medicare, a Charlotte, N.C.-based Medicare Advantage plan provider, landed a $10 million Series B round. AXA Venture Partners led the funding, with Sunwater Capital also participating.

Outcomes4Me Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based app and platform for navigating cancer treatment and care, snagged a $4.7 million investment. Asset Management Ventures led the funding, which included contributions from Sierra Ventures, Merstal Ltd. and others. The company also hired Sami Shalabi as its chief operating officer. He previously headed up engineering and product development at Google.

• Doctors apply Covid-19 lessons learned as U.S. cases surge
   
• Moderna and Pfizer are reinventing vaccines, starting with Covid
   
• Stocks slip as investors weigh vaccines, virus restrictions

• Pear Therapeutics launches digital insomnia app. (Fierce Biotech)
   
• Bill Gates worries about 'dysfunctional' Covid-19 vaccine distribution. (Stat News)
   
• Public health programs see surge in students amid the pandemic. (Kaiser Health News) 
   
• Gilead Sciences touts data for new HIV therapy. (Endpoints News)

This newsletter was compiled by Brian Gormley and Zachary Cole.

WSJ Pro Venture Capital is a premium service of The Wall Street Journal. We cover venture capital and the global startup ecosystem. Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The Team: Matthew Strozier, Tomio Geron, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley and Marc Vartabedian.

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