Arboretum LifeSciences has launched with $30 million in Series A funding to expand access to genetic testing for common diseases and build a molecular information platform supporting precision medicine and genomically stratified clinical trials. The financing was led by F-Prime, GV, .406 Ventures, Hims & Hers, Amgen and other healthcare investors.
Arboretum was founded by leaders from the Broad Institute’s Data Sciences Platform and combines artificial intelligence, genomic testing and clinical data.
The company is initially focused on common conditions such as cardiovascular, metabolic and autoimmune diseases, areas where precision medicine has advanced more slowly than in oncology and rare disease.
For healthcare systems, Arboretum provides clinical genetic testing and access to a collaborative research network.
The model is intended to identify patients who may be at risk for preventable diseases, return actionable genomic findings and build molecular datasets capable of supporting research and precision clinical trials.
For biopharmaceutical companies, Arboretum plans to provide genomically stratified clinical development capabilities, patient matching and datasets that can support target discovery, trial design and commercialization.
The company has established healthcare partnerships with Advocate Health, Geisinger, Providence Healthcare and Cardiovascular Associates of America.
At Advocate Health, its testing will support the organization’s cardiogenetics service line and Advocate CV Genetics Registry.
At Geisinger, Arboretum will provide clinical genetic testing supporting MyCode-Connect, while its work with Providence will integrate testing and research infrastructure with existing registries.
Cardiovascular Associates of America will use point-of-care genetic testing across its specialty practice network.
KEY QUOTES:
“We started Arboretum to solve one of the biggest problems in therapeutics development: identifying genetically-defined populations that will have outsized benefit from common disease therapies. Twenty years ago, the field of oncology opted to leverage molecular information to find therapies that would treat smaller populations but have more transformative outcomes than general chemotoxic agents. This is a moment in time to make a similar bet on diseases like coronary artery disease, diabetes, and neurodegeneration. The goal of Arboretum is to build the scientific and operational infrastructure that turns that thesis into better therapies.”
Anthony Philippakis, M.D., Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO of Arboretum and General Partner at GV
“Our focus is on building a durable and actionable research network that places patients at the center. Improving patient care is our utmost goal. By engaging patients in research, and designing clinical trials around the biological signal of each patient rather than population averages, we give patients better therapeutic options and create the clinical evidence needed for tomorrow’s diagnostics and therapeutics.”
Clare Bernard, Ph.D., President of Arboretum
“Drug developers in common diseases have historically had limited access to the large-scale genomic and clinical datasets critical to helping understand differences in disease biology and translate genetic insights into potential new treatment options. Arboretum is building a bridge from molecular information to real therapeutic impact, helping deepen our understanding of disease biology and supporting development of the next generation of precision medicines.”
Michael Montalto, Ph.D., Vice President of Precision Medicine at Amgen
“Precision medicine has enormous potential for patients with common diseases, but healthcare systems need scalable ways to integrate genetic testing into routine care. Our partnership with Arboretum allows us to expand access to clinically indicated genetic testing while contributing to high-quality molecular and clinical data that can improve patient care today and accelerate research and clinical trials for the future.”
Terry Gilliland, President and CEO of Geisinger
