- Freenome — a biotechnology company that pioneered a multiomics platform for early cancer detection — announced it closed $160 million
Freenome — a biotechnology company that pioneered the most comprehensive multiomics platform for early cancer detection through a routine blood draw — recently announced it closed $160 million in Series B funding bringing the total funding to $238 million to date. With the funding round, Freenome is planning to use the proceeds to further the development of its early cancer detection blood test powered by its platform.
And Freenome is planning to conduct a pivotal validation study and submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under the Parallel Review Program the first application of its platform in colorectal cancer screening. Plus Freenome is planning to expand its laboratory infrastructure and software to support its continued growth.
The Series B round of funding was led by RA Capital Management and Polaris Partners. And they were joined by other new investors like Perceptive Advisors, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Roche Venture Fund, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, and the American Cancer Society’s BrightEdge Ventures. And Freenome’s existing investors also participated in the financing including Andreessen Horowitz, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Data Collective Venture Capital, Section 32, and Verily Life Sciences (a subsidiary of Alphabet focused on life sciences and healthcare).
“We are fortunate to have an experienced and proven group of biotech and healthcare investors who share our mission of making early detection of cancer a routine part of patient care,” said Freenome CEO Gabriel Otte. “In addition, we are excited to welcome several strategic investors who are committed to our mission. Each brings insight, expertise, and partnership opportunities to accelerate our path to positively impacting patient care.”
“Freenome’s work holds much promise and potential,” added Bob Crutchfield — the Managing Director of the American Cancer Society’s philanthropic impact fund, BrightEdge. “We hope our investment will help lead to accelerated patient access to this technology and better outcomes for cancer patients.”
Otte pointed out that since being founded in 2014, Freenome has been focused on building a multi-disciplinary team to achieve its vision of a future where cancer mortality is significantly reduced through early detection matched with the right treatment informed by its blood test. And Freenome already demonstrated promising clinical results at Digestive Disease Week this year where the company’s cell-free DNA (cfDNA) assay and machine learning approach enabled high sensitivity and specificity in a cohort of mostly early-stage colorectal cancer patients.
This round of funding will enable Freenome to execute the necessary validation study for approval and reimbursement coverage of its colorectal cancer screening test as well as expand the platform to other forms of cancer or immune-driven disease areas in the future.
“The most affordable and effective treatment for metastatic cancer is to detect it early, when the tumor is still small and local, and we can cure it with surgery. It’s with that vision that we have invested in Freenome,” explained Peter Kolchinsky — the Managing Partner of RA Capital. “Freenome’s multiomics platform is unlike anything we’ve seen, and we believe it can unlock the promise of using blood tests to detect and treat cancer early.”
Freenome’s multiomics platform is able to detect key biological signals from a routine blood draw. And the platform integrates assays for cell-free DNA, methylation, and proteins with advanced computational biology and machine learning techniques to identify additive signatures that improve upon the accuracy for early cancer detection given the molecular subtypes of cancer are heterogeneous in nature.
This strategy incorporates a multidimensional view of tumor- and immune-derived signatures that enable early detection of cancer rather than relying only on tumor-derived markers — which may miss early signs of cancer. Freenome’s first cancer test is for screening colorectal cancer — which is the second deadliest form of cancer in the U.S. When identified early, colorectal cancer has a 90% five-year relative survival rate compared to 14% when detected at a more advanced stage according to data from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program.
“The only way to achieve meaningful progress against cancer is to interweave normally disparate fields towards a single mission. And the leadership team at Freenome has built a world-class, multi-disciplinary team of molecular biologists, computational biologists, machine learning scientists, and engineers,” noted Amir Nashat — the Managing Partner of Polaris Partners. “Having seen the tremendous progress Freenome has made in early cancer detection, we are excited to continue charting that path together.”
