NEW YORK – Freenome announced today that it has closed a $160 million Series B financing round, which it will use to further develop its early cancer detection blood test.
The South San Francisco, California-based firm plans to perform a validation study and submit the first application of its platform, colorectal cancer screening, to the parallel review program of the US Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Freenome's platform combines assays for cell-free DNA, methylation, and proteins with machine learning tools to identify signatures that improve the accuracy for early cancer detection.
The financing round was led by new investors RA Capital Management and Polaris Partners. The round also included additional new investors including Perceptive Advisors, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Roche Venture Fund, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, and the American Cancer Society's BrightEdge Ventures.
Freenome's existing investors also participated in the financing, including Andreessen Horowitz, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Data Collective Venture Capital, Section 32, and Verily Life Sciences.
With the new round of financing, Freenome has now raised $238 million in funding to develop and validate its cancer detection technology.
"This funding will allow us to execute the necessary validation study for approval and reimbursement coverage of our colorectal cancer screening test, as well as expand our platform to other forms of cancer or immune-driven disease areas in the future," Freenome CEO Gabe Otte said in a statement. "We are fortunate to have an experienced and proven group of biotech and healthcare investors who share our mission of making early detection of cancer a routine part of patient care."