IsoPlexis, a Yale spinout developing an immunologic assay that helps researchers understand how therapies impact individual patients on a cellular level, seems to have raised a nice chunk of startup capital.
The company, formed last year by a couple of MBA candidates, has raised $1.3 million of a $1.7 million early-stage round, according to a regulatory filing.
IsoPlexis is developing a proprietary immunoassay that “helps researchers and drug developers make more informed decisions about vaccines and drug efficacy,” taking into account the body’s complex immune response.
It has a patent-pending “biochip” technology that analyzes and “fingerprints” single cells, studying their excretion of a number of proteins like cytokines, chemokines and growth factors. This, in turn, helps construct “a highly accurate picture of how pathogens, drugs and biologics impact and interact with the immune system.”
IsoPlexis plans to apply its technology to help monitor immune response, evaluate vaccine response and conduct stem cell research. The immunoassay could have use in personalized medicine, stem cell research and oncology, the company said.
IsoPlexis’ plans, in its words:
In the long term, we seek to use our uniquely accurate, lab- and clinic-friendly immune evaluation platform to improve drug testing, cancer monitoring and disease prognosis.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
IsoPlexis is supported by the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute and Office of Cooperative research, with technology from the laboratory of biomedical engineering prof Dr. Rong Fan. It’s headed by Sean Mackay, a recent Yale MBA grad, who spoke with the New Haven Register last year:
“If you can help develop better vaccines and drugs, and get a better understanding of how a drug interacts with the immune system, that’s a huge development for humanity,” Mackay, 30, said.
What a lovely sentiment. But despite dogged attempts from this journalist, calls to learn more about where the funding’s coming from remain unanswered. Come on, Sean. You know you wanna talk. Call me!
