BioPharma

Genomics raises $32.5M to develop genetic database technology for drug development

Boston-based drugmaker Vertex Pharmaceuticals leads the round and also enters partnership with UK firm to aid its own drug development efforts.

By Alaric DeArment on August 31, 2018

A British firm that aims to use human genetics and data science in drug discovery has raised more than $30 million in a Series B financing round.

Genomics said Thursday that it had closed an oversubscribed round of £25 million ($32.5 million), led by Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Other participants were Australian firm Tanarra Capital, along with British investors IP Group, Invesco Perpetual, Oxford Sciences Innovation, Lansdowne Partners and Woodford Investment Management. In addition to the investment by Vertex, Genomics is also partnering with the drugmaker to use its system to help with drug development.

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The company plans to use the funding to expand its products, which consists of a database of more than 100 billion data points that link human genetic variation at more than 14 million positions in the human genome to changes in 7,000 molecular, cellular and physiological measurements and disease outcomes.

“This fundraising will help us leverage our deep expertise in data science and genetis, our world-leading database of genomic information and proprietary machine-learning algorithms to help bring greater precision to the discovery of new drugs,” CEO Peter Donnelly said in a statement.

Genomics is one of a number of companies that have arisen in recent years to tap vast pools of genetic and patient data for the sake of drug discovery and development. Less than two weeks ago, San Francisco-based RDMD scored $3 million in seed funding for its offering, which involves allowing companies to mine electronic health records data from patients in order to find disease-specific data models that can be analyzed and used for developing drugs to treat rare diseases. Last month, another UK-based firm, Healx, raised $10 million in a Series A financing round that it will use to develop its technology, designed to employ artificial intelligence to comb through a database. And also last month, British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline signed a four-year deal to allow access to data from personal genetic testing company 23andMe’s database.

But the use of data in drug discovery and development has also led to privacy concerns. Earlier this week, Nebula Genetics raised $4.3 million in seed funding to develop its genomic data marketplace, which will use blockchain and other technologies to ensure privacy and security, allowing consumers to collect payment for their data in the form of cryptocurrency.

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