Feb 15, 2024

Freenome , a San Francisco, CA-based biotechnology company developing blood tests for early cancer detection, raised $254M in funding. The round was led by Roche with participation from a16z Life Sciences Growth Fund, the American Cancer Society’s BrightEdge Ventures, ARK Investments, ArrowMark Partners, Artis Ventures, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Cormorant Capital, DCVC, Eventide Asset Management LLC, Intermountain Ventures, Perceptive Advisors, Polaris Partners, Pura Vida Investments, Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), RA Capital Management, Sands Capital, Section 32, Squarepoint Capital, with funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and others. The company intends to use the funds to advance the pipeline of single-cancer and tailored multi-cancer early detection tests built on its multiomics platform. Led by CEO Mike Nolan, Freenome is leveraging its multiomics platform, which uses computational biology, machine learning and other technologies, to develop screening tools to detect cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages. The platform is also being evaluated alongside biopharma and diagnostic company partners to non-invasively detect minimal residual disease (MRD) augmented with biological insights derived from the multiomics platform. Its initial programs are focused on deadly and actionable cancers – colorectal and lung with a pipeline of single-cancer and multi-cancer tests under development. The company has two registrational studies underway: PREEMPT CRC: A >40,000-participant prospective clinical study with comprehensive longitudinal real-world data (RWD) evaluating Freenome’s blood-based screening test among adults at average risk for colorectal cancer (CRC). PROACT LUNG: A prospective observational clinical study enrolling up to 20,000 participants. The study is intended to validate Freenome’s lung screening test in current and former smokers 50 years and older who are eligible for screening with an LDCT scan. Freenome is also developing tests to screen for other cancers as part of its multi-cancer research programs, including the Vallania Study and others. Combined, the multi-cancer studies will involve >10,000 participants with paired RWD. The Vallania Study: A multicenter, multi-cancer research program with more than 6,200 participants enrolled, including risk-matched control participants to reflect intended use populations. The study will compare blood samples from both cancer and non-cancer individuals to understand patterns associated with lung and other priority cancers. FinSMEs 15/02/2024