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Protenus Extends Series A Funding Round

Protenus, a patient protection solution aimed at preventing health data breaches, has undergone a $3 million extension of its Series A funding round, led by Kaiser Permanente Ventures with participation from F-Prime Capital Partners and existing investor LionBird Venture Partners.

The new investment will be used to bolster its product, expand its offerings and accelerate sales growth.

The move comes as many hospitals have pivoted to using electronic health records, potentially making certain patient data more vulnerable. In 2016, over 27 million patient records were breached, according to the Protenus Breach Barometer. So far, 2017 has averaged more than one health data breach per day, with over 40 percent of these incidents attributable to insiders.

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Menlo Therapeutics Raises $50M in Series C Financing

MENLO PARK, Calif. — Menlo Therapeutics Inc. announced today that the company has raised $50M to advance development of serlopitant, a novel NK-1 receptor antagonist, as a once-daily oral treatment for pruritus (itch) associated with atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and prurigo nodularis and for treatment of refractory chronic cough.  venBio led the financing and was joined by Novo Holdings A/S, Rock Springs Capital, Aisling Capital, and Bay City Capital as new Menlo Therapeutics investors in this Series C financing. All of Menlo Therapeutics’ Series A and B investors also participated in the financing, including Vivo Capital, Presidio Partners, Remeditex, and F-Prime Capital.

Aaron Royston, MD, of venBio will join the Menlo Therapeutics Board of Directors. Dr. Royston commented on the financing, “Menlo Therapeutics’ trials have helped to further elucidate the pathophysiology behind itch, and specifically the role of substance P and the NK1 receptor. Patients with debilitating itch represent a significant unmet medical need, as their primary treatment options are often only antihistamines and steroids. Serlopitant has shown the ability to reduce itch and was well tolerated in two phase 2 trials, and it has the potential to help treat millions of patients with pruritus.”

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PatientPing partners with ACO in Houston

PatientPing, a health technology company that connects providers to seamlessly coordinate patient care, has partnered with Houston Methodist Coordinated Care, an Accountable Care Organization affiliated with Houston Methodist, the company said.

This partnership means that providers throughout Houston and its surrounding communities, as well as across states, will be notified when their patients are admitted, discharged or transferred to/from all eight Houston Methodist hospitals, allowing for timely intervention and overall higher quality care for patients.

PatientPing´s network includes tens of thousands of providers nationwide. In December 2016, PatientPing announced USD 31.6 million funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. PatientPing is rapidly accelerating its nationwide expansion so that any providers who share patients anywhere in the country can coordinate with one another.

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Vestwell Partners with Fiserv for 401k Robo Services

For advisors who want to offer 401ks to their business-owner wealth management clients, Fiserv and Vestwell just made it easier.

Fintech giant Fiserv announced Monday that it is integrating robo 401k provider Vestwell into its platform, further adding to the digital streamlining of 401k services.

The partnership will provide “convenience and low-cost, high-value automation, allowing advisors to open a 401k that sits alongside their clients’ other accounts that are managed either directly or through a third-party.”

“Our partnership with Vestwell brings retirement planning and wealth management together, empowering financial advisors while expanding the offerings and enhancing the value they can bring to their clients,” Cheryl Nash, president or Investment Services with Fiserv, said in a statement. “The ability to offer a flexible, turnkey retirement platform provides advisors with a strong touchpoint and benefits peoples’ financial lives by reducing the time to investment and elevating the digital experience.”

Vestwell’s white-labeled solution allows advisors to deliver what the company describes as a “consistent client experience through an open-architecture, multi-custodial, multi-record-keeping platform.”

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Caribou Biosciences Appoints Steven B. Kanner, Ph.D. as Chief Scientific Officer

BERKELEY, Calif.–Caribou Biosciences, Inc., a leading genome engineering company, announced today that Steven B. Kanner, Ph.D. has joined the Company as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Kanner brings more than 25 years of experience in drug discovery and development and will lead Caribou’s research and development of new applications for its gene editing technology.

“We are delighted to welcome such a well-respected and talented scientist as Steve to our team,” said Rachel Haurwitz, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Caribou. “Caribou is continuing to make exciting progress in our gene editing technology development and Steve’s wealth of experience will help further accelerate our efforts.”

During his career, Dr. Kanner has held a number of research leadership roles at prominent life sciences organizations, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Astex Pharmaceuticals, and Agensys/Astellas Pharma. Most recently, Dr. Kanner served as Vice President of Discovery Biology at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, where he helped lead the discovery and development of novel RNAi-based therapeutics for oncology and genetic disease programs. During his time at Bristol-Myers Squibb, he facilitated a discovery program ultimately leading to the development and launch of Sprycel® (dasatinib), a treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia.

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US HealthVest Opens Smokey Point Behavioral Hospital

MARYSVILLE, Wash.— US HealthVest announced the opening of Smokey Point Behavioral Hospital, a 115-bed psychiatric hospital that provides a full continuum of inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care to patients of all ages.

“We are excited to bring these vital services to the community,” said Richard Kresch, M.D., President and CEO of US HealthVest.  “As the first new psychiatric hospital to open in Western Washington in over 80 years, Smokey Point Behavioral Hospital will treat the increasing and unmet need for specialized psychiatric care in the growing Seattle area.”

Located at 3955 156th Street NE off the major interstate highway, I5, in Marysville, the hospital provides behavioral health and addiction treatment services to children, adolescents, adults and senior adults. Comprehensive services include free 24/7 assessments, inpatient and intensive outpatient care. A full range of specialized programs such as a Women’s Program, a Co-Occurring Disorders Program and a Psychiatric Intensive Care Program will be offered along with integrated healing practices for Native Americans. Smokey Point Behavioral Hospital is committed to serving all patients, regardless of ability to pay.

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PatientPing announced a partnership with Georgia-based WellStar Health System

PatientPing announced a partnership with Georgia-based WellStar Health System.

WellStar is the largest health system in the state. It includes three skilled nursing facilities and three inpatient hospices. Providers across the state can be notified when their patients are admitted, discharged or transferred to/from a WellStar facility, the company said. By joining PatientPing, they will receive real-time notifications and care instructions, such as contact information for the patient’s care team.

“We look forward to creating an enormous, positive change across the entire patient care continuum in Georgia and beyond,” said Jay Desai, co-founder & CEO, PatientPing. “PatientPing is establishing the nation’s largest community of providers working together to coordinate patient care and reduce healthcare costs through real-time data sharing, and it’s an honor to launch Georgia with the wildly innovative team at WellStar.”

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Third-Party Risk Management Provider RiskRecon Secures $12 Million in Series A Funding

SALT LAKE CITY – RiskRecon, a SaaS provider of objective, vendor security assessments and insights, today announced it has completed a $12 million Series A financing round led by Dell Technologies Capital with additional participation from F-Prime Capital Partners and existing investor General Catalyst. The RiskRecon platform dramatically improves third-party risk management by delivering transparent security measurements, analytics, and analyst-level insights. The funding will bolster product development and accelerate global sales growth.

With its proprietary data gathering technology, RiskRecon offers a unique depth, transparency and accuracy unavailable from security ratings services and vendor questionnaires. RiskRecon’s solution discovers a third-party vendor’s entire public IT footprint and produces actionable security assessments. RiskRecon provides not just summary information but also all supporting evidence, remediation priorities and vendor collaboration so that you can truly scale your third-party risk program.

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Flywire acquires UK-based Pace Invoice

Flywire, a leading provider of international payment solutions, today announced that it has acquired PACE Invoice, a multi-currency invoicing platform provider based in London. With the acquisition, Flywire adds international invoicing to its cross-border payments and receivables services, enabling its business, education and healthcare clients to more easily link invoices to cross-border receivables, saving time and costs in invoice preparation and payment reconciliation.

The move comes on the heels of Flywire’s recent expansion into the cross-border payment market for businesses. PACE Invoice CEO James Shattock will join the company and lead expansion efforts in the UK and Europe for that new business segment.

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Genoa Pharmaceuticals Secures $62 Million Series A Financing

Seattle, WA – Genoa Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on development of improved therapies for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other severe pulmonary indications, today announced the completion of a $62 million Series A financing. The round was led by F-Prime Capital Partners and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, with participation by Novo AS, RiverVest Venture Partners, and TPG Biotech. Concurrent with the financing, venture capitalists Ketan Patel, M.D., Naveed Siddiqi M.D., Tiba Aynechi Ph.D., Niall O’Donnell, Ph.D., and Heather Preston, M.D. joined the board of directors. Jonathan Leff, M.D, former Executive Vice President of Research and Development at InterMune and who led the oral pirfenidone (Esbriet®) approval process, was appointed an independent director.

A. Bruce Montgomery, M.D. was appointed Chief Executive Officer and will lead clinical development out of the Seattle office. Founder and inventor, Mark Surber, Ph.D. was responsible for organizing the financing and was named Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Surber will head the San Diego office focusing on Aerodone™ nonclinical support and pipeline research and development.

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