NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Personalized medicine firm Perthera said today that it has completed an $8.7 million Series A funding round.
The round was led by Pilot Growth Equity, a technology growth equity firm with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Washington, DC, which was the sole institutional investor.
Launched in 2013 by George Mason University researcher Emanuel Petricoin and venture capitalist Dendy Young, McLean, Virginia-based Perthera provides molecular profiling of cancer patients to help physicians guide their treatments.
The company does not perform the assays itself, but rather helps physicians access genomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomics profiling services from outside companies, serving as an intermediary handling the many steps involved in obtaining and sending out patient tumor samples to molecular profiling firms and returning assay results.
The company is also developing a database of patient treatment histories and outcomes to help guide future patient treatments.
"Perthera's growth over the last four years has been compelling," Neil Callahan, a co-founder and managing director of Pilot Growth Equity, said in a statement, noting that hundreds of oncology practices including a number of respected cancer treatment centers and hospitals have ordered Perthera's services. "We think Perthera … is at the very forefront of personalized and precision healthcare," he added.
In connection with the financing, Callahan also joined Perthera's board of directors.