Karina Mazhukhina
Vera Whole Health raises $10M from existing backers to expand advanced primary care across 26 clinics
Seattle-based Vera Whole Health raised $10 million from existing backers to expand its advanced primary care model, bringing total funding to $70 million since its 2008 founding; the company operates 26 clinics in 10 states and employs about 450 people. Vera offers health coaching alongside primary care and works with employers, payers and health systems, including clients like Seattle Children’s and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas City.
Takeda buys Seattle startup PvP Biologics for up to $330M, will advance TAK-062 into Phase 2
Japanese pharmaceutical Takeda acquired Seattle biotech PvP Biologics for up to $330 million in late February, taking over its TAK-062 (Kuma062) program and all clinical and manufacturing activities while laying off PvP staff. Takeda plans to run phase 2 trials of the enzyme-based celiac disease treatment that PvP developed after earlier funding of $35 million supported phase 1 work.
Tomorrow says app traffic rises 200% as COVID-19 drives demand for free wills; company serves 400,000 users
Seattle startup Tomorrow reports a more than 200% increase in traffic to its free legal will–creating app and falling customer acquisition costs as COVID-19 spurs interest in end-of-life planning. The company — founded by Dave Hanley in 2016, built with 52 attorneys and serving over 400,000 customers — offers wills and long-term life insurance options.
MDMetrix and TransformativeMed Offer Free COVID-19 Tracking Tools to Hospitals; Deployed at UW Medicine
Two Seattle startups, MDMetrix and TransformativeMed, are offering their combined COVID-19 patient-tracking and analysis tools free to hospitals so clinicians can spot treatment and spread trends across patient groups. Their systems are already in use at University of Washington Medicine to screen patients, track symptoms and labs, and report data to state health departments.
Concure Oncology raises $2.5M from ~25 investors to expand Breast Microseed radioactive-seed therapy
Concure Oncology raised $2.5 million from nearly 25 investors to expand adoption of its Breast Microseed Treatment, a brachytherapy that implants rice-grain-sized radioactive palladium seeds after tumor removal to kill remaining cancer cells. The Mercer Island startup has now secured over $12 million total and will use the round to double its field sales team and train clinicians nationwide.
