ImpriMed – a leading precision medicine startup focused on utilizing AI to improve cancer treatment, recently announced the close of a $23 million Series A funding round, led by SBVA. And HRZ Han River Partners, SK Telecom, KDB Silicon Valley, Ignite Innovation Fund, Samyang Chemical Group, Murex Partners, and Byucksan also participated in this round.
This funding round will enable ImpriMed to expand its transform drug response prediction technology beyond veterinary medicine into human oncology, increase headcount, and broaden its business development and research and development pipeline.
The only precision medicine company utilizing AI and comprehensive analysis of canine and feline cancer cells to make personalized drug response predictions, ImpriMed is delivering real-world results at scale. So far, 250+ veterinary hospitals in more than 40 states have deployed ImpriMed’s technology, with more than 15,000 canine and feline blood cancer tests completed.
ImpriMed has been challenging the status quo for treatment in animal cancer patients, building and validating its AI models for clinical outcomes, and enabling veterinary professionals to deliver more successful results. Going forward, ImpriMed aims to address the overall cancer precision medicine space, which is estimated to reach $100.5 billion by the end of 2028 (source: Research and Markets). And the company’s work will arm hospitals with drug treatment response predictions, ensure stronger prognosis evaluations, and more effectively stratify treatment risks.
ImpriMed, which was co-founded in 2017 by Sungwon Lim, CEO, and Jamin Koo, CTO—both alumni of Stanford University and KAIST (The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)—specialized in utilizing artificial intelligence to enhance the efficacy of personalized cancer treatments. Its AI algorithms are used in combination with a patient’s live cancer cell analytics, the results of which are far more accurate predictions of how a specific patient will respond to a particular cancer therapy before administration. And the company’s multiple myeloma prognosis and drug response prediction software is an innovative medical device already recognized by the Korea Food and Drug Administration and is targeted for commercialization in the United States in 2025.
KEY QUOTES:
“As the importance of precision medicine in conquering cancer continues to grow, ImpriMed has been producing significant results in the treatment of canine cancer, based on an abundance of clinical data. We highly value ImpriMed’s potential to commercialize customized medical services for a variety of cancer diseases.”
- Jay Choi, Principal at SBVA, which led this investment round
“This significant funding, secured in a challenging global investment landscape, is a strong endorsement of our technological innovation and growth trajectory. We are eager to transfer our expertise from veterinary to human cancer care, aspiring to become a pioneer in the precision medicine arena.” Additionally, ImpriMed intends to broaden its CRO services to assist pharmaceutical companies in clinical trial designs and drug combination strategies, leveraging its unique technology that evaluates drug sensitivity in patients’ live cancer cells.”
- Sungwon Lim, CEO of ImpriMed
