On August 26, 2020 Freenome, a privately held biotechnology company that has pioneered a comprehensive multiomics platform for early cancer detection with a routine blood draw, reported an oversubscribed $270 million Series C financing, bringing the company’s total financing to over $500 million since the company’s launch (Press release, Freenome, AUG 26, 2020, View Source [SID1234564042]). The proceeds will be used to accelerate the PREEMPT CRC clinical trial for Freenome’s blood test for colorectal cancer screening and precancerous lesion detection, advance a pipeline of blood tests for both the early detection and early intervention of additional cancers, and continue building the company’s proprietary multiomics platform. PREEMPT CRC is an FDA registrational study launched in May 2020 to support approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first front-line blood test to help the 45 million people who are currently not up-to-date on colorectal cancer screening guidelines in the U.S.

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The Series C financing was led by new investor Bain Capital Life Sciences and existing investor Perceptive Advisors. They were joined by a group of other new investors, including Fidelity Management & Research Company, LLC, Janus Henderson Investors, Farallon Capital Management, Rock Springs Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, EcoR1 Capital, LLC, Catalio Capital Management, and the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. Freenome’s existing investors also participated in the financing, including RA Capital Management, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., American Cancer Society’s BrightEdge Ventures, Sands Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, DCVC, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Novartis, Polaris Partners, Roche Venture Fund, Soleus Capital, and Section 32.

Freenome CEO Gabriel Otte stated, "We are delighted to have Bain Capital Life Sciences and Perceptive Advisors as lead investors, and thank all of our new and existing investors for their ongoing confidence in Freenome and our mission to improve accessibility and adherence to cancer screening. We are moving closer every day to a world where cancer can be detected early or even in a precancerous state and ultimately save many lives."

Jeffrey Schwartz, a Managing Director at Bain Capital Life Sciences said, "Freenome’s innovative approach to detecting cancer early, when it is most treatable, is on the leading edge of the liquid biopsy field with features that are advanced and differentiated for cancer screening. The platform’s ability to detect a range of cancer types is compelling and we look forward to working with the company as it continues its growth."

The financing accelerates Freenome’s efforts to expand its platform to create a portfolio of industry-leading blood tests for multiple cancers. The company’s platform, with capabilities to characterize tumor and immune signatures, enables a differentiated and comprehensive blood testing technology for early cancer detection. With a comprehensive multiomics approach – analyzing large, complex biological datasets – Freenome’s platform integrates technologies applying genomics, transcriptomics, methylomics, and proteomics with advanced computational biology and machine learning techniques to understand multiple signatures for early cancer detection.

Ellen Hukkelhoven, Ph.D., a Managing Director at Perceptive Capital noted, "Freenome is at an exciting inflection point as it moves its first product through pivotal testing, and we see future opportunities on the horizon to expand its platform to create blood-based screening tests for a range of additional cancers. There is so much untapped potential to bring advanced technology to improve cancer screening and to make testing more accessible and cancer more preventable." Concurrent with the Series C financing, Dr. Hukkelhoven will join the Freenome Board of Directors.

Freenome CFO William Quirk commented, "This funding will allow us to execute on our business plans by accelerating the registrational study for our blood test for colorectal cancer screening toward approval, reimbursement, and commercialization while, at the same time, advancing our pipeline of blood tests for screening other cancers. We are well positioned for Freenome’s next stage of growth, leveraging the full potential of our novel multiomics platform as a disruptive technology for cancer screening."