Startups

Chicago precision medicine startup Tempus nabs $200M for expansion

The company, which is led by Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky, is focused on the collection and analysis of molecular and clinical data.

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Tempus, a company focused on precision medicine through the collection and analysis of molecular and clinical data, has secured $200 million in Series F financing from various investors, including Franklin Templeton, Baillie Gifford, Novo Holdings, NEA, Revolution Growth and funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price.

The Chicago-based startup said it will use the money to expand into new therapeutic areas and geographies, as well as to strengthen its operations.

Its platform analyzes thousands of clinical and molecular data points. The company uses next-generation sequencing, machine learning and artificial intelligence-assisted image recognition to help physicians and researchers make data-driven decisions.

Tempus has partnerships with cancer centers, hospital networks, academic medical centers, physicians, researchers and CancerLinQ, a nonprofit subsidiary of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The Chicago company was founded in 2015 by Eric Lefkofsky, who also co-founded Groupon. Though he never anticipated moving into the healthcare space, a change occurred when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. He found himself spending long hours with her in cancer clinics, and the seeds for Tempus were planted.

“I was just amazed at how little technology had permeated her care and I became infatuated with trying to understand why,” he said in a 2017 interview with MedCity.

The startup has grown in its more than three years of existence. In 2017, it unveiled an operating system called Tempus O, which is designed to structure, cleanse and annotate clinical data. And last year, it launched a Tempus Labs, a mobile app that lets physicians view a patient’s clinical history, potential therapy options and clinical trials for which they are eligible.

Tempus said the new $200 million brings its total funding to $520 million. That amount includes a $70 million Series C round co-led by NEA and Revolution Growth in 2017, as well as a $110 million fundraise last year.

“From our founding, Tempus has been singularly focused on improving the lives of patients diagnosed with disease, starting with cancer,” Lefkofsky, who also serves as CEO, said in a statement. “Three and a half years later, we are empowering stakeholders across healthcare with insights derived from real-world clinical evidence connected to rich molecular data.”

In other recent news, the startup collaborated with Stanford Medical Center and Notable Labs on personalized medicine research for blood cancer. As part of the feasibility study, Stanford researchers took blood samples from patients and sent them to Tempus for genomic sequencing. Samples were also sent to Notable, which used its AI-based automated laboratory system to test potential drug treatments against the disease and provided treatment recommendations based on that analysis. Then, Stanford clinicians used the data and the clinical features of the patient to form a report with individualized recommendations that could inform future treatment.

Photo: D3Damon, Getty Images

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