Good day. The initial public offerings fever seizing the technology sector hasn’t yet made its way to healthcare technology—and many industry insiders don’t expect it to anytime soon.

That was one of the sentiments expressed by respondents to Venrock’s annual “Healthcare Prognosis” survey. Venrock says it queried more than 200 people from startups, insurers, healthcare providers, investors and others in the healthcare sector between April 22 and May 5. Partners Bryan Roberts, Bob Kocher and Siobhan Nolan Mangini authored the survey.

Last year, 42% of respondents to Venrock’s survey said they expected a healthtech IPO in the first half of 2026. That didn’t happen, and only 3% of those responding to this year’s survey said they expected the healthtech IPO market to heat up this year.

Macro factors including interest rates and geopolitical uncertainties have weighed on IPOs, Kocher said. Also, a number of public healthtech players haven’t traded well in recent years, Roberts said.

There have been exceptions: musculoskeletal-focused Hinge Health went public in May 2025 at $32 and now trades around $85.

Roberts said he is optimistic healthtech IPOs will return in the next six to nine months.

Those awaiting their chance include OURA, maker of OURA Rings, which has filed confidentially to go public.

Note to readers: The WSJ Pro VC newsletter won't be published Friday in observance of the Fourth of July holiday. We'll be back in your inbox Monday.

Flu and pneumonia deaths mount. The U.S. overall death rate in 2025 fell to its lowest point on record, even as influenza and pneumonia are now among the nation’s top 10 causes of death for the first time in years, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• The death rate fell 4.6% last year, to 689.2 deaths per 100,000 people, down from 722.1 in 2024, according to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The death rate declined across every age group and nearly every demographic group tracked in the provisional report.
   
• The main driver of that record low was a continued drop in drug overdose deaths, said Farida Ahmad, a health scientist at the CDC and one of the report’s co-authors. Another factor, she added, was that Covid-19 no longer contributed to as many deaths.
   
• Against that backdrop, influenza and pneumonia stood out—moving from 11th to eighth place in all age groups—with 56,511 deaths in 2025 compared with 48,139 in 2024. It is the first time the influenza category has cracked the top 10 since 2020.

Ipsen said it agreed to buy Swiss biotechnology company Memo Therapeutics in a deal that could exceed 700 million euros ($799.6 million) and that seeks to expand the French drugmaker’s rare-disease portfolio. The move marks Ipsen’s second acquisition this week after its agreement to take over Kartos Therapeutics, a company developing a drug to treat a rare blood cancer, for up to $1.75 billion. The deal focuses on Memo’s experimental drug potravitug for the treatment of nephropathy associated with BK polyomavirus, a complication in kidney transplant recipients, Ipsen said. The drug—which was granted fast-track designation from the FDA in 2023—is due to move to a mid- and late-stage clinical trial later this year, the company added.

People have increasingly been turning to AI for emotional support. In certain cases, that has led to dangerous consequences, particularly with mass-market technology that isn’t specifically built for mental health. Seeing an opportunity, wellness startups have begun to design and market AI products that they say are tailor-made for people grappling with conditions such as depression, anxiety and addiction. By some industry estimates, there are more than 100 mental-health-focused AI bots now. As the industry has grown, so has the tension with traditional therapists who worry these tools are too sycophantic to truly help people.

Funds

Magnify Ventures, a Los Angeles-based early-stage venture capital firm, closed its $46.6 million Fund II. The fund will target companies innovating in the health, wealth and family care sectors. Returning investor Pivotal Ventures—founded by Melinda French Gates–is backing the fund. Investment firm Jordan Park and insurer Unum joined as new investors. Magnify announced the launch of its inaugural $52 million fund in 2022.

People

Muna Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases, said Rita Balice-Gordon, its founding chief scientific officer and chief executive since 2021, will step down and join the company’s board. Michel Detheux, former president and CEO of iTeos Therapeutics, has been appointed CEO, the company said.

Queue, a Palo Alto, Calif.-headquartered startup building a fully autonomous robotic pharmacy, closed a $12.6 million seed round led by AlleyCorp. Additional investors include House Capital, Ubiquity Ventures and Banter Capital.

Mila, an intimate-care brand, closed a $2.5 million pre-seed round led by Mensch Capital Partners.

• The Latest Senior-Citizen Special Is Here: Cheap Weight-Loss Drugs

• Zyn Can Market Itself as Less Harmful Than Cigarettes, FDA Says

• Meditation Never Worked for Me, So I Had Harvard Researchers Scan My Brain 

• We Know Better Diet Can Lead to Longer Lives. Here’s How to Make That Happen.

• European Regulator Calls for Amgen’s Tavneos to Have Authorization Revoked

• The alcohol industry, frazzled by headwinds, wields its power behind the scenes (STAT)
   
• Two roads diverged (Life Sci VC)
   
• How Crispr could target the body’s epigenome–the software that controls our genes (Scientific American)
   
• States sue Trump administration over Medicaid work requirements (New York Times)
   
• Newsom vowed to transform kids’ mental health. Many California schools are still waiting. (KFF Health News)

This newsletter was compiled by Brian Gormley, Sarah Klearman and Matthew Strozier. 

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

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

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