Good day. Most biotechnology startups aspire to become large companies. That isn't necessarily the goal of Alloy Therapeutics Inc., which just raised $75 million in venture financing.

Instead of focusing on how it can grow into a $100 billion company, Alloy wants to distribute the wealth and help 100 biotech startups become $1 billion companies, Alloy founder and Chief Executive Errik Anderson said.

Mr. Anderson has a history of launching life-sciences companies. He previously co-founded businesses such as antibody-discovery company Adimab LLC and antibody drug developer Compass Therapeutics Inc. Each time an entrepreneur starts a company, the founder needs to pull together the right technology and people, he said.

Lexington, Mass.-based Alloy aims to help startups jumpstart that process by providing access to technology, services and expertise. Alloy’s technologies include transgenic mice that produce antibodies that startups can develop into medications.

Last year, for example, Alloy and venture-backed Maze Therapeutics Inc. said they had launched startup Broadwing Bio as a joint venture. Alloy will generate antibodies against targets Maze spotted through its genomics research in an effort to uncover treatments for blinding diseases.

Alloy, which counts Mubadala Capital among its investors, intends to help more startups launch with its new financing. 

And now on to the news...

Vaccine startup IPO. The biotechnology startup behind the Covid-19 vaccine jointly developed by AstraZeneca PLC and the University of Oxford plans as soon as this week to file publicly to sell shares in the U.S., WSJ reports.

• The Oxford startup, Vaccitech Ltd., has been aiming for a listed valuation of around $700 million, with backers estimating it could be a $1 billion company by year-end.
• Vaccitech recently raised a $168 million in new financing from investors including Tencent, Future Planet Capital, and others, in a big step toward a public share offering. 
• Vaccitech co-founders are Oxford scientists who led the development of the Covid-19 vaccine. The university supported the company when it spun out in 2016. Vaccitech plans to use technology underpinning the vaccine to advance clinical trials for treatments targeting prostate cancer, hepatitis B and human papillomavirus.

Startups including MDClone in Israel are working with healthcare providers and HMOs to speed medical research through “synthetic data,” WSJ reports.

• Synthetic data can be created through algorithms that take details from real-life data sets, such as electronic medical records, scramble them and piece them back together to create artificial patient populations that largely mirror the real thing but don’t include any real patients.
• Rapid digitization of health records has created troves of patient information that can be analyzed by algorithms, but patient information isn’t easy to get because of privacy laws requiring that medical data be stripped of names addresses and other identifying details.
• MDClone has a platform for creating synthetic data from medical records. Synthetic data have the potential to reduce privacy risks that have previously hampered research projects.

Funds

Long Hill Capital closed on over $300 million for its third fund to continue making mostly early-stage investments, but also select growth-stage deals, across a broad range of healthcare and longevity sectors in China. The Shanghai- and Beijing-based firm closed its preceding fund in 2018 at $265 million.

People

Bone Health Technologies, which makes a wearable vibrating belt designed to treat osteopenia and prevent osteoporosis, named Laura Yecies as chief executive. She was previously CEO at SyncThink, Catch and SugarSync. San Francisco-based Bone Health Technologies is backed by IT-Farm, Good Growth Capital and Portfolia.

Arch Oncology Inc., a developer of antibodies for the treatment of cancer, appointed Laurence Blumberg as president and chief executive. He was previously co-founder and founding chief executive at Syntimmune. Brisbane, Calif.-based Arch is backed by investors including 3x5 Partners, RiverVest Venture Partners and Roche Venture Fund.

Tessera Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology startup pioneering new types of genetic medicines, appointed David Davidson as chief medical and development officer, and Hari Pujar as chief operating officer. Prior to Tessera, Mr. Davidson was chief medical officer of bluebird bio. Mr. Pujar has been an operating partner at Flagship Pioneering since October 2020, and was previously chief technology officer at Spark Therapeutics. In January, Cambridge, Mass.-based Tessera secured a $230 million Series B round led by Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., Altitude Life Science Ventures and SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund 2.

Click Therapeutics Inc., developer of prescription digital therapeutics, named Randall Stanicky as chief financial officer. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs. New York-based Click is backed by investors including Sanofi Ventures.

Exits

atai Life Sciences, a developer of psychedelic and non-psychedelic compounds for various mental health indications, acquired a majority stake in Psyber, a developer of interventions to improve mental health disorders and induce behavioural changes through brain computer interface-enabled digital therapeutics. Terms weren’t disclosed. Berlin-based atai last month raised a $157 million Series D round from investors including Apeiron Investment Group, Thiel Capital, Woodline Partners, Fearless Ventures, Falcon Edge Capital, Pura Vida Pro, Catalio Capital Management, Subversive Capital and Highline Capital.

API Holdings, the India-based parent of online pharmacy PharmEasy, secured $350 million in new funding, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Prosus Ventures and TPG Growth led the round, which included contributions from existing investors Temasek, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, LGT Lightrock, Eight Roads and Think Investments.

Icosavax Inc., a Seattle-based developer of vaccines against infectious diseases that cause severe, life-threatening respiratory illnesses, closed a $100 million Series B round led by RA Capital Management. New investors Janus Henderson Investors, Perceptive Advisors, Viking Global Investors, Cormorant Asset Management, Omega Funds and Surveyor Capital also participated in the funding, along with existing backers Qiming Venture Partners USA, Adams Street Partners, Sanofi Ventures, ND Capital and Open Philanthropy. Peter Kolchinsky, founder and managing partner of RA Capital, will join the company’s board.

Vesta Healthcare, a New York-based provider of telehealth services for caregivers and at-home care recipients, scored $65 million in growth capital. Deerfield Management led the investment, with participation from K2 HealthVentures, Oak HC/FT, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Lux Capital, Generator Ventures, Nationwide, CareCentrix and Epstein Partners.

Nucleix, an Israel- and San Diego-based developer of a blood test for the early detection of lung cancer, picked up a $55 million investment led by RA Capital Management. New investors including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Lilly Asia Ventures, LYFE Capital and MILFAM also joined in the round, alongside previous backers OrbiMed, Aurum Ventures, DSC Investment and OCI Bio Investments.

Pendulum Therapeutics, a San Francisco-based maker of a probiotic that lowers blood sugar spikes and A1C levels in people with Type 2 diabetes, raised a $54 million Series C investment. Meritech Capital led the round, with General Partner Craig Sherman joining the board. Sequoia Capital, True Ventures and Khosla Ventures also participated in the round.

Mineralys Therapeutics Inc., a Philadelphia-based startup developing a novel therapy for the treatment of hypertension, completed a $40 million Series A round. HBM Healthcare Investments and Samsara BioCapital co-led the funding, with participation from Catalys Pacific and Adam Street Partners. Alexander Asam, investment advisor of HBM Healthcare Investments; and Srinivas "Srini" Akkaraju, managing general partner and founder of Samsara BioCapital, will join the board.

Vizgen, a Cambridge, Mass.-based provider of gene imaging technology, snagged $37 million in Series B funding. Novalis LifeSciences and Northpond Ventures co-led the round, which included participation from Tao Capital Partners, Pura Vida Investments, ARCH Venture Partners and others.

Brattea, a Chinese renal denervation company, landed more than $20 million in Series B+ funding. Lead investor Kuanping Capital was joined by Hengxu Capital, Pudong Science & Technology Co., Brosmed, Northern Light Venture Capital, BioTrack Capital and Sherpa Healthcare Partners in the round.

Carta Healthcare Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of clinical data abstraction technology for improved patient care, nabbed $17.3 million in Series A financing. Storm Ventures led the investment, with participation from AI Digital Innovation Fund, CU Health Innovation Fund, Asset Management Ventures, Maverick Ventures, Healthy Ventures, Waterline Ventures, Seven Peaks Ventures, Katalyst Ventures and Atypical Ventures.

Metagenomi, an Emeryville, Calif.-based gene editing startup, added $10 million in Series A funding to close the round at $75 million. Investors in the round included RA Capital Management, Leaps by Bayer, Humboldt Fund, Sozo Ventures, Agent Capital, InCube Ventures and HOF Capital. Andrew Levin, managing director at RA Capital, will join the board. The initial tranche of the round was raised in November 2020.

Orchid, a San Francisco maker of an at-home saliva-based genetic test that identifies if a future offspring is at normal or elevated risk to diseases, was seeded with a $4.5 million investment from Refactor Capital, Village Global, Day One Ventures, Olive Capital, Boom Capital and others.

• U.K. limits AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to over-30s amid blood-clot concerns 
   
• Got your Covid-19 vaccine? Now cancel your extra appointments 
   
• Your Covid-19 vaccine card: what you need to know

• FDA grants first Covid-19 antibody green light for at-home, fingerprick blood test. (Fierce Biotech)   
   
• Novartis taps DNA damage specialist Artios in $1.3 billion discovery deal. (Endpoints News)
   
• For this hospice nurse, the Covid shot came too late. (Kaiser Health News)
   
• How artificial intelligence could make clinical trials smarter. (STAT News)
   

This newsletter was compiled by Yuliya Chernova 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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