Cure51 – a biotech company looking to unlock the biological mechanisms responsible for exceptional survivors among cancer patients – announced it has successfully raised €15 million in a seed funding round led by Sofinnova Partners. Other investors in this round include Hitachi Ventures GmbH, Life Extension Ventures, Xavier Niel, and Olivier Pomel (CEO and co-founder of Datadog).
This funding round will enable Cure51 to build a unique cohort and explore the molecular processes by which certain cancer patients survive for very extended periods despite having highly aggressive forms of the disease.
The company is working towards unlocking mechanisms that can help every patient become an exceptional survivor. To achieve this, it is using new analytical techniques and has formed a strong partnership with leading oncology centers worldwide. These efforts will help in precision medicine and in discovering new drug targets.
Cure51 was originally launched in March 2022 by Nicolas Wolikow and Simon Istolainen, with input and support from Okwin co-founder Thomas Clozel, along with seasoned entrepreneurs and five oncology centers: Gustave Roussy Institute (IGR, Paris – France), Leon Bérard Center (CLB, Lyon – France), Charité Universitätsmedizin (Berlin – Germany), Milan – Italy), the Instituto Europeo di Oncologia (IEO – Milan, Italy) and Vall d’Hebron (VHIO, Barcelona – Spain).
Cure51 has a goal of pioneering the creation of the first global clinical and molecular database of cancer survivors, by rewriting the narrative of cancer. instead of focusing on the disease mechanisms, Cure51 studies outliers: the individuals who defy statistics and miraculously survive the aggressive forms of cancer, including metastatic stage pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma.
KEY QUOTES:
“This funding marks a pivotal moment in Cure51’s journey, but more importantly, in the path towards curing cancer.”
– Nicolas Wolikow, Co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer of Cure51
“With this support, we are on our way to unlocking survival mechanisms and ultimately, saving countless lives.”
– Simon Istolainen, Cure51 Co-founder and Chief Strategy and Scientific Network Officer
“Looking at ‘mechanisms of exceptional survival’ is not a new concept, but Cure51 has taken this to a whole new level in terms of the scale of the endeavor plus leveraging the latest in analytical techniques. Cure51’s strong clinical network and ambitious team make this an investment we’re thrilled to support.”
– Simon Turner, Partner at Sofinnova Partners
“Modern AI models require world class datasets to uncover novel biology and discover transformative medicines, and this is what Cure51 is uniquely creating for cancer patients.”
– Joanna Soroka, PhD, Principal at Hitachi Ventures GmbH
