Investors are betting big on specialized primary care

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Today in healthcare news: Russia's coronavirus vaccine is 91.6% effective, investors are increasingly betting big on more specialized primary care, and an inside look at the pitch deck SWORD Health used to raise $25 million.

Russia's coronavirus vaccine is 91.6% effective, study shows, 5 months after the country approved it and started giving it to people

• Russia's coronavirus vaccine is 91.6% effective, per an interim analysis of phase-3 data published in The Lancet.
• Russia approved the drug for emergency use in August, before phase 3 trials, and started giving it to the public in December.
• One expert said the study had some caveats, but that the results seem to endorse Russia's strategy.

Read the full story from Sinéad Baker and Dr. Catherine Schuster-Bruce here>>

A healthcare startup serving LGBTQIA+ patients just raised $25 million, and its growth reveals a key area of opportunity for other primary care startups

• Folx, a consumer healthcare startup for LGBTQIA+ patients, raised $25 million in Series A funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, the company said on Tuesday.
• The startup provides telemedicine visits for LGBTQIA+ patients in addition to mailed hormone replacement therapy for transgender patients.
• Primary care startups serving specific populations instead of a more generalist audience have raised more than $1 billion in the last several years, according to Pitchbook data.

Read the full story from Megan Hernbroth here>>

We got an exclusive look at the presentation that had investors working over the holidays to invest $25 million in the latest startup tackling remote physical therapy

• SWORD Health, a startup that provides remote physical therapy, raised $25 million in Series B funding from Transformation Capital and existing investors.
• Founder and CEO Virgilio Bento said he struggled to contain investor interest in the round, which closed on Christmas Day.
• We got an exclusive look at the presentation Bento used to win over his new investor and board member.

Read the full story from Megan Hernbroth here>>

More stories we're reading:

• New York health officials are quitting as Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he doesn't trust experts (The New York Times)
• Planned Parenthood's president on the big changes ahead for reproductive rights and her organization's many other asks of the Biden administration (Insider)
• CureVac has signed a deal with Bayer to increase vaccine distribution in Europe (Bloomberg)
• Oxford researchers didn't tell COVID-19 vaccine trial volunteers of a dosing mistake when it was discovered, a letter reveals (Insider)

- Lydia