Adela – an innovator in blood testing for minimal residual disease monitoring and early cancer detection through a genome-wide methylome approach – recently announced the closing of $48 million in financing. And the company announced that Lisa Alderson will join Adela as interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), succeeding Dr. Scott Bratman. Dr. Bratman will continue to serve as a member of Adela’s Board of Directors and as President.
This $48 million financing includes existing investors F-Prime Capital, OrbiMed, Deerfield Management, Decheng Capital, and RA Capital Management, and new investor Labcorp, a global leader of innovative and comprehensive laboratory services. It brings the total capital raised to date to $108 million.
The proceeds from the funding will be used to advance Adela’s technology platform and commercialize Adela’s first product for MRD monitoring. And Adela’s tissue-agnostic MRD monitoring product is based on its genome-wide methylome enrichment platform, which efficiently captures extensive, biologically relevant genomic information to maximize test performance and improve treatment decisions.
Plus, the proceeds will also be used to continue the development of the company’s multi-cancer early detection (MCED) product, based on the same platform. And Adela’s platform was originally developed by Adela’s Chief Scientific Officer, Daniel De Carvalho, Ph.D., at University Health Network’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, in collaboration with investigators at Sinai Health System.
Lisa Alderson was named Adela’s interim Chief Executive Officer. Alderson, a seasoned leader and operator with over 20 years of experience building early-stage companies at the intersection of technology and healthcare, has served on Adela’s Board of Directors since early 2022.
Alderson previously co-founded and served as the CEO of Genome Medical, the leading genomic care delivery company enabling broad-based access to genomic medicine. And she served as the Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer of Invitae and was also part of the start-up team at Genomic Health.
KEY QUOTES:
“Adela’s genome-wide platform expands the potential opportunity for MRD testing through a novel methylome approach. Bringing this highly differentiated offering to market means oncologists and patients will have a better understanding of MRD and how it impacts patients with cancer. Additionally, Adela’s work on multi-cancer early detection is exciting and has the potential to revolutionize the way early-stage cancer is detected.”
— Shakti Ramkissoon, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President and Head of Medicine for Oncology at Labcorp
“We are excited to grow Adela to the next level with this new financing and the addition of Ms. Alderson’s expertise in commercializing healthcare products and scaling companies for growth. We look forward to bringing Adela’s MRD offering to market so that it can benefit patients.”
— David Scheer, Chairman of Adela’s Board of Directors
“During my tenure on the Board of Directors of Adela, I have been highly impressed with the talent, dedication, and passion of the Adela team, as well as with the unique ability of its genome-wide methylome enrichment platform to access expansive biological information cost-efficiently. This round of financing enables us to prepare operationally to commercialize products that hold the potential to improve care for millions of people with cancer.”
— Lisa Alderson, Interim CEO, Adela
