SPAC
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Babylon Shuts Down US Operations After Rescue Merger Falls Apart
This week, virtual care company Babylon Health permanently closed its U.S. operations and laid off 94 employees. The news came after the company’s rescue merger fell apart — Babylon had planned to go private through a deal with Swiss digital therapeutics firm MindMaze and Babylon creditor AlbaCore Capital.
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Ligand Pharma turns to a SPAC to take antibody biz public, raise up to $266M
OmniAb, the antibody division of Ligand Pharmaceuticals, is set to go public through a SPAC merger that will infuse the business with up to $266 million. The deal comes as traditional IPOs have mostly ground to a halt due to uncertain market conditions, but Ligand is making a longer-term bet on growing demand for antibody drug discovery services.
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Payer’s Place: Dawn Maroney
Dawn Maroney, President, Markets of Alignment Health and CEO of Alignment Health Plan, to discuss how they are using technology to provide better service and care to consumers.
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Psychedelic biotech Eleusis enters SPAC deal to take depression drug to the clinic
Eleusis is developing a formulation of the psychedelic compound psilocybin that overcomes limitations of pill versions of the drug. Depression is Eleusis’s lead disease target but the biotech notes that its research has shown the potential to bring psychedelic drugs beyond psychiatry.
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Regenerative med biotech ProKidney inks merger to get $825M for CKD cell therapy
ProKidney is going public in a SPAC merger that infuses the biotech with $825 million for Phase 3 tests and manufacturing of its autologous cell therapy for chronic kidney disease. More than slowing the decline in organ function, ProKidney says its cell therapy offers the potential to reverse injury caused by the condition.
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After internal review, another Talkspace exec resigns
Talkspace’s COO Mark Hirschhorn is resigning after an internal review of his conduct. This comes just a week after the departure of its co-founders and CEO.
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Better Therapeutics goes public through SPAC, will put proceeds toward first digital therapeutic
The startup is developing digital therapeutics that use cognitive behavioral therapy-based programs to address cardiometabolic conditions. It began trading on Nasdaq on Friday.
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Health IT, Hospitals, Artificial Intelligence
Sema4 goes public via SPAC merger
With a goal of making precision medicine the standard of care at health systems, Sema4 struck a nearly $800 million deal with CM Life Sciences to go public. The company, which offers tools that combine genomic and clinical data to glean patient care insights, will get $500 million in cash proceeds to grow its business.
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Pear Therapeutics plans to go public in $1.6B SPAC deal
Digital therapeutics startup Pear Therapeutics struck a deal to go public through a blank-check acquisition that would value the company at $1.6B. But it still faces big challenges in selling its app-based treatments.
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Bloom is off the health tech IPO rose, as valuations expected to fall
In Venrock’s annual survey of healthcare leaders, respondents expected most digital health startups that went public during the pandemic to see their valuations fall by the end of the year.
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Applying Remote Patient Monitoring to Surgery Prep and Recovery, Oncology and Women’s Health
Join us to learn about the latest trends in remote monitoring and how to extend its benefits beyond chronic conditions to more patients – all while using fewer staff resources.
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In lawsuit, medication adherence startup claims it was strung along as part of planned SPAC acquisition
Medication adherence startup PillDrill is suing a digital health company UpHealth, claiming it lied about plans to acquire the startup as part of a broader SPAC deal.
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Babylon to go public in $4.2B blank-check deal
As it makes a big push to expand in the U.S., digital health startup Babylon struck a deal to go public through a SPAC merger. The deal would value the company at $4.2 billion.
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Startups, Employee Benefits, Health Services
Filing discloses Anthem’s $50M investment in Sharecare
After acquiring startup Doc.AI, Sharecare is going public through a merger with a Mnuchin-backed special purpose acquisition company. In a recent filing, the company disclosed it had received $50 million in backing from Anthem.
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Better Therapeutics plans to go public through SPAC merger
Digital health startup Better Therapeutics plans to go public through a SPAC merger that would value it at $187 million. The company is currently running a pivotal study to see if its app-based program could be used as a treatment for type 2 diabetes.
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Health Tech, Patient Engagement
Sharecare confirms plans to go public through SPAC merger
Digital health startup Sharecare plans to go public through a merger with a blank-check company created by Alan Mnuchin. The deal will value the company at $3.9 billion.
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4 takeaways from 23&Me’s planned SPAC deal
Consumer DNA testing company 23andMe plans to go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company started by Virgin Group. As sales of DNA testing kits wane, how will 23andMe drum up new interest for its business?