Peloton Goes Public—And Immediately Runs in Reverse: Brainstorm Health

This post was originally published on this site

Good afternoon, readers.

In a widely-expected IPO (one that has happened in steps), Peloton, the maker of hi-fi, internet-connected exercise bikes, officially went public on Thursday. And investors immediately pedaled away.

Peloton shares began trading at around $27 per share (already a dip from its $29 per share offering) and then continued to drop over the course of Thursday, closing down by more than 11%.

But CEO John Foley isn’t exactly worried, as my colleague Anne Sraders reports.

“I will say a lot of these young tech companies get criticized for staying in the private markets too long, and I feel like if we would have waited any longer we might have been painted with the same brush, so it felt like this was the right time,” Foley tells Fortune.

But while initial drops aren’t exactly rare in the tech IPO market, Peloton may still be up against some substantial challenges. For one thing, the company has its fingers in a lot of different pots (fitness, tech, media, etc), and as Anne notes, its balance sheet is still challenging.

Time will tell if Peloton can ride its way up from a rocky debut.

Read on for the day’s news.

Sy Mukherjee, @the_sy_guy, sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com

DIGITAL HEALTH

23andMe is getting into the clinical trial recruitment space. Consumer genetic testing giant 23andMe has always had ambitions in drug development, reaching deals with pharma giants like GlaxoSmithKline and others to leverage DNA data to create new drugs. The company’s latest partnership, with TrialSpark, really puts it into the heart of things. Here’s how 23andMe explained the rationale for the deal, which seeks to create a new kind of joint clinical trial offering in phase 2 and phase 4 studies for a variety of drug types: “It’s game changing, because it is built around engaged customers who consent to participate in research, and it allows 23andMe to quickly find the right patients with the right conditions for clinical trials. Now with TrialSpark we are taking this one step further by enabling our customers access to clinical trial sites within their community.”

INDICATIONS

GSK cuts off generic Zantac supply as health concerns grow. With growing reports of cancer risks associated with the popular heartburn and indigestion product Zantac, GlaxoSmithKline—the branded product’s originator—is shutting off distribution of a generic version of the pill. This comes after Novartis’ decision to pull generic Zantac off the market earlier this week. (FiercePharma)

THE BIG PICTURE

CDC: There are more than 800 cases of vaping-related illnesses and 12 deaths. The drips keep dripping in the vaping-public health saga. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported on Thursday that the number of mysterious vaping-related illnesses (at this point seemingly tied to illicit, rather than legal, THC pods, and potentially adulterated black market nicotine vaping pods) has swelled to 805, and that there have now been 12 confirmed deaths. Massachusetts this week put a four-month moratorium on e-cigarettes as officials investigate the source of the illnesses, and major international markets filled with smokers, including India and China, are also cracking down on the products. (Reuters)