Digital health news, funding roundup in the prior week; December 13, 2021

Cerebral raised $300M, Odyssey Therapeutics secured $218M, Exai Bio landed $67.5M

Top Health News

The U.S. implemented stricter testing requirements for inbound travelers, including U.S. citizens, forcing travelers to make time and to budget for Covid tests closer to their departure date. More info for U.S.-bound travelers here.

Eli Lilly’s authorized antibody drug for treating and preventing Covid-19 infection in adolescents and adults is now authorized for pediatric patients, including newborns. While tests are still assessing whether the drug works against omicron, early data suggest a Vir Biotechnology antibody can address the new variant but Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ antibody drug might not. Get the story here. 

M&A

Specialty drugs represent a growing share of overall pharmaceutical sales, and Omnicell is acquiring specialty pharmacy technologies company ReCept Pharmacy to enter this market. Omnicell is paying $100 million cash to buy ReCept. Details here.
 
Funding Roundups

Cerebral raised $300 million at a $4.8 billion valuation. SoftBank led the round, joined by Prysm Capital, Access Industries, WestCap Group and Artis Ventures. The company already raised  $462 million altogether since launching, is being valued at $4.8 billion. Cerbral is a year-old, Walnut, Ca.-based online mental health services startup. The WSJ has more here.

Odyssey Therapeutics is the latest startup formed by serial biotech entrepreneur Gary Glick. Odyssey’s destination is oncology and immunology drugs that address novel disease targets, and the biotech now raised $218 million in Series A financing to fuel the journey.
More info here.

Exai Bio raised $67.5 million in Series A funding co-led by Section 32 and Casdin Capital, with participation from Two Sigma Ventures. Exai Bio is a four-month-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based liquid biopsy company focused on cancer detection. More here.

PetDx, a two-year-old, San Diego, Ca.-based maker of canine cancer detection tests that it is selling to pet clinics across the U.S., raised $62 million in Series B funding led by Longview Asset Management. Crunchbase News has more here.

Robin Healthcare, a four-year-old, Berkeley, Ca.-based startup building an 'Alexa for healthcare' scribe device that takes over administrative tasks, just raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Scale Venture Partners. Other participants in the round include Khosla Ventures and earlier backers Norwest Venture Partners, Social Leverage, Meridian Street Capital and IA Ventures. FierceHealthcare has more here. 

Totus Medicines, a 2.5-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based drug discovery company that says it wants to treat cancers with known targets but no specific drugs, raised $40 million in Series A funding led by DCVC Bio and Northpond Ventures, with participation from Camford Capital and earlier backer Social Impact Capital. Forbes has more here.


From Nov. 17 Invent Health virtual event

Primary care roundtable featuring UCSF, Health Wildcatters, Providence Ventures
Startups disrupting primary care @ Primary Care and the New Medical QB event 11/17/21 Watch here

Efficacy around primary care innovations from a doctor's perspective. Invent Health Virtual Event Primary Care and the New Medical QB Watch here

Disrupting the digital health establishment; What VCs and corporate strategists are financing
Invent Health Virtual Event Primary Care and the New Medical QB: Third Session Watch here

Primary care industry disruption overview by Bambi Francisco Roizen and Archana Dubey
Invent Health Virtual Event Primary Care and the New Medical QB: First Session Watch here

The business of primary care. Who’s the doc? What’s the cost and who’s paying?
Invent Health Virtual Event Primary Care and the New Medical QB: First Session Watch here

Tobacco use is making a comeback; primary care can save the day. Pivot CEO David Utley presents at Invent Health Virtual Event 'Primary Care and the New Medical QB' Watch here

Invent health roundtable: Learn about these emerging companies reinventing primary care. They included Bone Health Technologies, CrowdHealth, HealthNxt, HeyRenee, and Insiteflow

If you are interested in being included in our funding roundup, submit your press release or blog post about your financing round to mitos@vator.tv. If you want a longer write-up, please do give us a couple of days heads up. If you'd like to be included in our Today's Entrepreneur column, please send me your Vator profile.

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