During first three months of 2022, biopharma tech companies raised less money and made fewer deals than they did in the last three months of 2021. A volatile stock market is exacerbating the trend.
A month after Freenome closed $300 million in financing, Roche has invested another $290 million in the diagnostics developer. The cash infusion comes as Freenome continues a pivotal test in colorectal cancer while it also readies for clinical trials in other types of cancer.
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
The South San Francisco company intends to use the funding to launch its pivotal trial for its blood-based colorectal cancer screening and submit its test for parallel review for CMS coverage.
In addition to its expansion into bioengineering, the early stage venture capital firm has also shifted its investment strategy to include strategic growth investments.
Guardant Health has unveiled an ambitious five-year plan to sequence tumor DNA from one million cancer patients. Dubbed "Guardant 1 million," the push will be financed with $360 million in new financing from a broad syndicate of investors.
Biology is being digitized, machines are learning and Big Data is overhauling the way we understand the health of populations and individuals. It's a fundamental shift that's also impacting the financing and formation of startups.
Wednesday was just short of a billion-dollar day for liquid biopsy companies, with a $65 million Series A announcement from Freenome and a $900 million Series B close from Illumina spin-out Grail.
Biobots, Freenome, LignaMed, Telesis and OriMAbs - all life sciences startups - have taken residence in Philadelphia's University Science Center accelerator. Their focuses range from cancer diagnostics to 3D bioprinting.
