Good day. The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, a nonprofit that funds research and biotechnology startups, plans to use a new collaboration with biomanufacturing company National Resilience Inc. to help it build stronger companies.

The San Francisco-based institute, founded in 2016 by Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and the first president of Facebook, has created a network of research institutions it supports, including the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Pennsylvania.

The institute also assists scientists as they look to form companies—helping them hone ideas and tackle the logistics of company formation—and invests in these new businesses. They include Arsenal Biosciences Inc., a developer of cell therapies for solid tumors that emerged from a collaboration among investigators in its network.

ArsenalBio, whose scientific founders include researchers from Penn and UCSF, launched with an $85 million financing in 2019 that included Westlake Village BioPartners, the Parker Institute and other investors.

The Parker Institute recently teamed with Resilience, which manufacturers biotechnology products such as cell and gene therapies, to incubate new companies. The partnership with Resilience, which includes a $50 million pool the groups have created to back these companies, will help startups tackle issues such as manufacturing and process development, a vital aspect of the cell- and gene-therapy value chain, said John Connolly, chief scientific officer of the Parker Institute.

The institute will consider additional collaborations as needed. One possibility for the future is working with companies with technology to accelerate clinical trials, Dr. Connolly added.

And now on to the news...

Privacy guidelines. The Biden administration released new patient-privacy guidelines, seeking to spell out federal protections for personal medical information that law-enforcement officials could use to investigate potential violations of state antiabortion laws, The Wall Street Journal reports.

• The new guidelines come in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which is leading some states to implement laws limiting or outlawing abortion.
   
• The guidelines, issued Wednesday by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, emphasize the limits that federal rules place on disclosure of patient data.

Companies that sell sexual health products and medicines over the internet are shifting their marketing strategies to highlight the availability of mail-order emergency contraception, commonly known as morning-after pills, WSJ reports. Some are also using their emergency birth control advertising to protest government moves against reproductive rights, including the Supreme Court’s elimination of the constitutional right to an abortion when it overturned Roe v. Wade.

Boston-based growth-equity firm Volition Capital is leading a $13 million Series A funding round for behavioral health company Sensible Care, betting on continued demand for telehealth services, WSJ Pro’s Vipal Monga reports. Volition, which is investing the money out of a $400 million fund that was raised in 2020, reached out to Sensible Care as part of its efforts to expand its portfolio of digital health providers, said Larry Cheng, a managing partner at the firm. Global funding for mental-health tech firms totaled $792 million in the first quarter of this year, a 60% drop from the end of last year, according to CB Insights. Overall funding for telehealth companies, including ones that offer care for physical ailments, fell 32% during the first quarter to $3.2 billion, compared with the fourth quarter of last year.

Celsius Network LLC became a cryptocurrency lending giant on a pitch that it was less risky than a bank with better returns for customers, The Wall Street Journal reports. But investor documents show the lender carried far more risk than a traditional bank. The lender issued numerous large loans backed by little collateral, according to Celsius investor documents from 2021 reviewed by the Journal. The documents show that Celsius had little cushion in the event of a downturn, and made investments that would be difficult to quickly unwind if customers raced to withdraw their money. Celsius didn’t respond to requests for comment from the Journal.

Funds

ARCH Venture Partners closed ARCH Venture Fund XII LP with almost $3 billion in commitments to continue investing in early-stage biotechnology companies. The firm said it raised $1.9 billion for its preceding fund in January 2021. Arch recently participated in funding rounds for drug discovery startup Interline Therapeutics, cancer therapeutics startup Boundless Bio and gene imaging technology provider Vizgen.

Mountain Group Partners closed its third fund above its original target with $128 million in commitments to continue focusing on diagnostics, medtech and drug development across human and animal health. The Nashville, Tenn.-based firm has so far backed companies including Targan, Mindera Health and Silicon Ranch through the new fund.

People

New Enterprise Associates promoted Jess Ou and Tiffany Le to principal. Ms. Ou focuses on enterprise and consumer investments. Ms. Le joined the firm's healthcare team in 2020 and focuses on medtech and healthtech. NEA also promoted Zak Burns, Henry Magun, Alex Sharata and Emily Zhen to senior associate. Ms. Zhen makes digital health and life sciences investments.

Artax Biopharma Inc., an autoimmune disease treatment developer, appointed D. Scott Batty Jr. as chief medical officer. He was previously vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs for CTI Inc. In May, Cambridge, Mass.-based Artax Biopharma said it raised $26 million from Eli Lilly & Co., Sound Bioventures, Advent Life Sciences, Columbus Venture Partners and others.

Stem-cell therapy startup Cellino Biotech Inc. appointed Abhijit (Abhi) Kulkarni as chief operating officer and Paulette Dillon as senior vice president and chief business officer. Mr. Kulkarni was previously at Pelvic Health and Medtronic. Ms. Dillon was most recently senior vice president of corporate development and co-founder of Atreca Inc. In January, Cambridge, Mass.-based Cellino Biotech said it landed $80 million in Series A funding led by Leaps by Bayer, 8VC and Humboldt Fund.

Monogram Health, provider of in-home nephrology, primary care and benefit management services for individuals with chronic kidney and end-stage renal disease, hired Bhavesh Shah as chief financial officer. Mr. Shah was previously CFO and executive vice president at Compassus. Last year, Nashville, Tenn.-based Monogram Health raised a $160 million Series B round from investors including TPG, Frist Cressey Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners.

ReCode Therapeutics, a Menlo Park, Calif.- and Dallas-based genetic medicines startup, added $120 million in Series B funding, bringing the round total to $200 million. Leaps by Bayer and AyurMaya, an affiliate of Matrix Capital Management, co-led the new tranche. Amgen Ventures also invested. Alan Colowick from Matrix Capital and Rakhshita Dhar from Leaps by Bayer will join the company’s board. Pfizer Ventures and EcoR1 Capital co-led the initial Series B tranche in October.

Nomad Health, a New York-based digital marketplace for temporary healthcare jobs, closed a $105 million round of equity and debt. Adams Street Partners and Icon Ventures co-led the investment, which included participation from HealthQuest Capital, Polaris Partners, .406 Ventures, AlleyCorp and RRE Ventures. Debt was provided by J.P. Morgan and Trinity Capital. Garheng Kong, founder and managing partner of HealthQuest Capital, will join Nomad Health’s board.

PicnicHealth, a San Francisco-based startup offering patients expanded access to their medical records and the ability to contribute to scientific research, raised $60 million in Series C funding. B Capital Group led the round, with Partner Adam Seabrook joining the board. Existing investors Felicis Ventures and Amplify Partners also joined the round.

Tomorrow Health, a New York-based startup that helps patients secure home-health equipment, landed a $60 million Series B round. BOND led the funding, which included contributions from Andreessen Horowitz, Obvious Ventures, BoxGroup and Sound Ventures.

Faeth Therapeutics Inc., a San Francisco-based startup that aims to starve tumors by regulating nutrients associated with cancer metabolism, secured $47 million in Series A financing. Lead investor S2G Ventures was joined by Khosla Ventures, Future Ventures, Digitalis Ventures, KdT Ventures, AgFunder and Cantos in the round. Sanjeev Krishnan, chief investment officer and managing director of S2G Ventures, joined the board.

Visby Medical Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based portable PCR testing technology provider, added $35 million in Series E funding led by Lightrock, bringing the round total to $135 million. Additional Series E investors included ND Capital, Artiman Ventures and Pitango.

Birdie, a London-based home healthcare technology platform, fetched $30 million in Series B funding. Led by Sofina, the round included participation from Omers Ventures and Index Ventures.

Socially Determined Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based healthcare analytics startup, completed a $26 million Series B round. Questa Capital led the investment, which included support from LRVHealth, OSF Healthcare, Ziegler Link-Age Funds and HealthWorx.

Spot, an Austin, Texas-based startup offering on-demand injury insurance, fetched $25 million in equity and $8 million in debt funding. Ensemble VC led the round, which included participation from Sozo Ventures and others. Kevin Tsui will join Spot as chief revenue officer and Ensemble VC’s Collin West will join the board.

Ria Health, a San Francisco-based telehealth provider specializing in alcohol use disorder treatment, snagged $18 million in Series A funding. SV Health Investors led the round, with Managing Partner Michael Balmuth joining the board.

Regard, a Los Angeles-based developer of artificial intelligence software for healthcare, raised $15.3 million in Series A funding. Co-lead investors Calibrate Ventures and Foundry Group were joined by TenOneTen Ventures, Susa Ventures and others in the round. The company was formerly known as HealthTensor.

• Rite Aid CFO looks to cut debt as earnings suffer
   
• U.S. expands plan for monkeypox vaccines in effort to curb outbreak
   
• U.S. supply of effective Covid antibody drug dwindling

• Overturning Roe could change how digital advertisers use location data. (Protocol)
   
• Maternal deaths jump during pandemic (Axios)

This newsletter was compiled by Matthew Strozier 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, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley and Marc Vartabedian.

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