SEATTLE, July 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seattle-based Precision Oncology company SEngine Precision Medicine has now raised a total of $19M, following the recent closing of a $10M Series A2, as it continues to commercialize a platform that matches cancer patients to the right drug and also drives drug discovery.
The Series A2 round was led by the Washington Research Foundation along with Alethea Fulcrum Fund, Vincere Capital Biotech LLC, Bangarang Group, and other unnamed investors.
SEngine, a 2015 spinout from world-renowned Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is leveraging over two decades of R&D in diagnostics and drug discovery to revolutionize cancer therapies by pre-testing drugs on patient-derived live tumor cells, outside the patient’s body. SEngine utilizes breakthrough science from cancer genomics, robotics, and proprietary algorithms. SEngine's CLIA certified PARIS® Test generates actionable drug sensitivity reports for patients and is applicable to all solid tumors including colon, breast, lung, ovarian and pancreatic cancer.
SEngine is also utilizing its precision oncology platform to inform drug discovery via strategic collaborations with biopharmaceutical, and pharma companies as well as, top cancer centers such as Dana-Farber and Gustave Roussy, while advancing its own pipeline of novel targeted drugs.
Investor participation was spurred by the continued momentum of SEngine’s platform in both drug discovery and clinical diagnostics. The inclusion of Vincere in this closing represents the beginning of significant partnership, making the PARIS® Test more broadly available through its network of cancer centers.
“We are very appreciative of our investors support and their recognition of the need for more and better personalized treatments,” said SEngine CEO Dr. Carla Grandori. “The power of SEngine’s PARIS® platform to improve patient outcomes by providing oncologists individual drug effectiveness rankings as well as the innovation of new drugs will continue to propel SEngine forward.”
“Washington Research Foundation is excited to support SEngine in delivering important advancements in the field of functional precision medicine, especially at this time when patients and oncologists are ever more aware of the value of personalized treatment insights,” said Will Canestaro, PH.D., Managing Director of Washington Research Foundation. “SEngine's precision oncology platform has and will continue to advance important new therapies and improve patient outcomes. We have been following the team for many years and have been continually impressed by their ability to develop this technology and build a thriving biotech here in Washington State.”
SEngine’s PARIS® test grows a patient’s tumor cells in a lab, then analyzes them to determine the safest and most effective medications. Oncologists can also choose from SEngine’s library of more than 240 small molecule drugs any specific options they want to test on a patient’s tumor.
This round of funding will be used to accommodate the exponential growth SEngine has experienced in the past two years. Focus will be on hiring more exceptional team members and growing lab space in support of continued drug discovery initiatives, biopharmaceutical, and pharmaceutical partnerships, and continued clinical validation of PARIS Test platform.
About PARIS® Test
The PARIS® Test is a next generation diagnostic test that predicts drug responses integrating knowledge of cancer genomics with drug sensitivity testing of patient-derived live cells combined with robotics and proprietary algorithms. SEngine's CLIA certified PARIS® Test generates actionable drug sensitivity reports for patients and is applicable to all solid tumors including colon, breast, lung, ovarian and pancreatic cancer. Cancer derived cells grown in 3D outside the body maintain the functionality of the original tumor as well as its genomic characteristics. For cancers where a treatment path is not clear, such as many metastatic and recurrent cancers, the PARIS® Test provides crucial information to treating physicians to match the right drug to the right patient.
About SEngine Precision Medicine
SEngine Precision Medicine Inc. is a precision oncology company revolutionizing cancer therapies by pre-testing drugs on patient-derived 3D cultures utilizing patient specific tumor cells. As a spin-out from the world-renowned Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, SEngine is leveraging over two decades of R&D in diagnostics and drug discovery. The Company is commercializing the PARIS® Test, a next generation diagnostic test that predicts drug responses integrating knowledge of cancer genomics with phenotypic testing of patient-derived live cells combined with robotics and proprietary algorithms. SEngine's CLIA certified PARIS® Test generates actionable drug sensitivity reports for patients with solid tumors. SEngine is also pursuing drug discovery via strategic collaborations with biopharmaceutical / pharma companies by deploying its precision oncology platform.
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