Inside Sana Biotechnology’s plans to go public

Hello,

Well, we’ve made it to the final day of this year’s virtual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. I’m nowhere near as exhausted as I usually am by the long days, but I am starting to miss actually bumping into people in San Francisco. What’s been your takeaway from the virtual conference? Let me know at [email protected].

And as we head toward the end of a busy week, I wanted to introduce you all to the newest member of the team, Allison DeAngelis! Say hi via email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @ADeAngelis_bio.

Today in healthcare news: We read through Sana Biotechnology’s S-1 so you don’t have to, Ro’s getting into in-home, rapid coronavirus testing, and why one biotech VC predicts microbiome companies will take off in 2021. 

One of biotech’s most valuable startups just filed to go public. Here are 5 crucial takeaways from Sana’s 271-page filing.

• Sana Biotechnology has filed to go public.
• The secretive Seattle-based biotech has raised $705.5 million since it was founded in July 2018.
• We dug through its 271-page filing to unearth five key details on Sana’s financials, strategy, and future.

Read the full story from Andrew Dunn and Allison DeAngelis here>>

$1.5 billion digital-health startup Ro wants to be your online doctor. Here's how its coronavirus response rooted in rapid at-home testing fits into the new unicorn's long-term strategy.

• Ro, the direct-to-consumer digital health startup, announced Wednesday that it will teaming up with computer-vision startup Gauss to offer at-home rapid COVID-19 antigen tests.
• The partnership will start once Gauss's test gets an emergency use authorization from the FDA.
• The news comes roughly a month after Ro announced it was acquiring at-home blood-testing startup Workpath, further indicating the startup's ambitions to grow well beyond its roots in mail-order prescriptions for hair loss or erectile dysfunction.

Read the full story from Megan Hernbroth here>>

A top biotech investor lays out why an entirely new approach to treating cancer and infections could finally pay off in 2021

• A top healthcare VC predicted microbiome drugs would rebound in 2021 as part of Business Insider's year-end roundup of healthcare predictions.
• Though the biotech industry's infatuation with the promise of the bacteria in our gut dates back years, research failures and the 2019 uBiome scandal previously chilled investors' interests.
• More established microbiome companies have continued the search to prove the microbiome can bear fruit for patients and investors alike.

Read the full story from Patricia Kelly Yeo and Andrew Dunn here>>

More stories we're reading:

• Silicon Valley billionaire investor Vinod Khosla said involving industry insiders in Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine early in development 'would have slowed down' progress (Business Insider)
• Is it ethical to get vaccinated before your turn? One bioethicist argues yes (Elemental)
• Fertility benefits company Progyny lost 85% of its business at the start of the pandemic. Here's how its CEO is ramping up an aggressive growth strategy fueled by acquisitions. (Business Insider) 
• Talkspace is going public via SPAC in a deal that values the company at $1.4 billion (Stat News)
• Walgreens is teasing a 200-person in-house startup that aims to improve healthcare. Here's what to know. (Business Insider)
• SCOOP: Trump's promise to send people $200 drug discount cards isn't happening, Medicare chief says (Business Insider)

- Lydia