Livongo Gets Rolling on Its Digital Health IPO: Brainstorm Health

Happy Monday, readers.

Livongo Health has been on the digital health public offering road for a while, as we’ve reported.

On Monday, the company provided a few more details on its ambitions. It’s planning to raise some $230 million by offering 10.7 million shares in its public offering.

That could potentially double the firm’s valuation. Livongo is among a slew of digital health upstarts reportedly eyeing the public route this year. Stay tuned for more details.

Read on for the day’s news.

Sy Mukherjee, @the_sy_guy, [email protected]

DIGITAL HEALTH

Microsoft's quantum leap into medicine. My colleague Jeremy Kahn has a must-read on Microsoft's efforts to build software that could, one day, fuel a (yet-to-be-built) quantum computer. "In the most recent illustration, Microsoft worked with scientists at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, who specialize in a type of medical imaging called magnetic resonance fingerprinting (or MRF.)," he writes. "Like the more familiar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the technique uses powerful magnetic fields and radio waves to create images of internal organs and soft-tissue. But while traditional MRIs can only identify areas of light or dark, which a radiologist must then subjectively evaluate, MRF can differentiate precisely between tissue types, allowing for more detailed and interpretable images." (Coins2Day)

INDICATIONS

AbbVie strikes another deal after proposed Allergan buyout. AbbVie isn't finished after its proposed $63 billion deal to buy Allergan. The biotech giant announced on Monday it's buying cancer specialist Mavupharma to build up its cancer immunotherapy pipeline. This represents a bet on a very early-stage treatment that could prove high-risk, high-reward, according to analysts.

THE BIG PICTURE

Biden Cancer Initiative to cease operations. The Biden Cancer Initiative is rolling up its sleeves amid some complicated political calculus. "For more than two years, the Biden Cancer Initiative has focused on creating and implementing programs and platforms that accelerated progress against cancer," said Greg Simon, president of the Biden Cancer Initiative. "Today, we are suspending activities given our unique circumstances. We remain personally committed to the cause, but at this time will have to pause efforts." Apparently things get complicated when you're running for president.