Good day.  Startup Creyon Bio has formed a collaboration with drugmaker Eli Lilly that could be worth more than $1 billion, the companies say.

Creyon, whose investors include DCVC Bio and Lux Capital, has technology capable of designing oligonucleotides, or short nucleic-acid sequences, that could be used to treat a range of diseases.

Creyon uses its computational machine-learning models to mine data from its experiments and glean insights into nucleic acid structures, sequences and chemistry, said Chief Executive Serge Messerlian. The company then uses that information to design drugs with specific attributes.

For instance, the company can design oligo medications to eliminate specific disease-causing RNA molecules, he said. It was this potential that attracted Lilly, which provided Creyon with $13 million up front and could pay more than $1 billion more in success-based development and commercialization payments, Creyon said.

Creyon also is in conversations with other top pharmaceuticals about partnerships, Messerlian said. The startup expects to launch clinical trials of a drug from its pipeline in 2026, he added.

And now on to the news...

Biotech executive. Altesa BioSciences has hired a top pharmaceutical executive to help develop a drug for a respiratory infection that is particularly serious for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

• Dr. Kate Knobil, former chief medical officer of drugmaker GSK, has taken the same role at Altesa, which is advancing a treatment for rhinovirus infections. While the infections are the most frequent cause of the common cold, they can be extremely damaging to people with COPD.
   
• Dr. Katie Laessig, who previously was Altesa’s chief medical and regulatory officer, is now deputy chief medical officer and chief regulatory officer of the company.
   
• COPD, which is caused by smoking and air pollution, is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. It can cause breathlessness, coughing with congestion and tightness in the chest.

Novartis has agreed to acquire Regulus Therapeutics for a total equity value of up to roughly $1.7 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports. With the merger, the Swiss pharmaceutical company aims to bring to more patients farabursen, a kidney-disease treatment developed by Regulus, the companies said Wednesday. Shares of Regulus, a San Diego biopharmaceutical company specializing in medicines targeting microRNAs, rocketed 135% to $7.90 in premarket trading Wednesday. The stock had already more than doubled in value this year as of Tuesday’s close. The deal is set to close in the second half of the year, the companies said. Novartis will initiate a tender offer to acquire all of Regulus’s shares for $7 apiece, plus a non-tradeable contingent value right for another $7 a share that will be payable once Regulus meets a certain milestone for getting regulatory approval for farabursen. 

Funds

Cocoon Capital raised $30 million toward its third fund, which has a target of $50 million. The Singapore-based firm invests in sectors including medtech, advanced manufacturing, logistics, diagnostics and climate tech.

People

Rahul Kakkar was appointed CEO-partner of Flagship Pioneering and chief executive officer of Quotient Therapeutics. He previously served as president and CEO of Tome Biosciences.

Nocion Therapeutics, a startup developing a treatment for chronic cough, appointed Matthew Frankel as chief medical officer. He was previously CMO at Chemomab.

Neurotechnology startup Subsense named Cyril Eleftheriou as chief neurotechnology officer. He was previously a principal scientist at Novartis.

Exits

Teladoc Health acquired UpLift, a provider of virtual mental health therapy, psychiatry and medication management services, for $30 million in cash. The transaction also includes up to $15 million in additional contingent earnout consideration.

Plenful, a San Francisco-based AI workflow automation platform for healthcare teams, scored $50 million in Series B funding. Dahner Corp. Co-Founder Mitchell Rales and Arena Holdings co-led the round, which saw participation from Notable Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, TQ Ventures and others.

IXI, a Finland-based startup developing autofocus eyewear, picked up $36.5 million in Series A funding led by Plural.

Blooming Health, a New York-based platform using AI to connect underserved populations such as older adults and new parents with local support services, landed $26 million in Series A funding led by Insight Partners.

ChiroHD, a cloud-based practice management system for chiropractors, secured $26 million in growth capital from Mainsail Partners. The company is co-headquartered in Atlanta and Greenville, S.C.

HealthPlan Data Solutions, a Columbus, Ohio-based pharmacy benefit intelligence provider, collected a $15 million growth equity investment led by MK Capital.

Spark Biomedical, a Dallas-based wearable neurostimulation technology provider, closed a $15 million Series A round led by Wave Ventures.

Basil Systems, a Boston-based product lifecycle intelligence platform for the life sciences industry, raised $11.5 million in funding led by Golden Ventures.

Trek Health, a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of transparent payment data to health systems, closed an $11 million Series A round led by Madrona.

Epicore Biosystems, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of sweat-sensing wearables that provide real-time personalized health insights, added $6 million in Series B funding, bringing the round total to $32 million. Investors in the latest tranche included Alumni Ventures and Joyance Partners.

Pallie AI, developer of an AI-powered companion supporting health and wellbeing, raised $2 million in pre-seed funding led by True Ventures.

• Drugmakers have spent millions targeting ‘middlemen’—and it’s paying off 
   
• The U.S. eliminated measles in 2000. The Texas outbreak could upend that
   
• Why new Wegovy deals won’t restore Novo Nordisk’s obesity lead
   
• Hims & Hers to sell Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy in U.S., shares soar
   
• Merck to spend $1 billion on new factory to make U.S. supplies of blockbuster drug

• Pfizer’s Bourla ‘cautiously optimistic’ on looming U.S. pharma tariffs (BioPharma Dive)
   
• NIH cancels participation in Safe to Sleep campaign that decreased infant deaths (STAT)
   
• Kennedy advises new parents to ‘do your own research’ on vaccines (New York Times)
   
• The power of physicians in dangerous times (New England Journal of Medicine)

This newsletter was compiled by Zachary Cole and Brian Gormley. 

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, Angus Loten and Marc Vartabedian.

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