Cambridge-based startup Sano Genetics announced it has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round led by MMC Ventures, with further funding from Episode 1, Seedcamp and several experienced operators in software and life sciences including Paul Forster, a Co-founder and former CEO of Indeed, Paul Wicks, former VP of innovation at PatientsLikeMe, and Margo Georgiadis, the former CEO of Ancestry.com.
Sano's software platform connects patients living with rare and chronic conditions, such as Long Covid, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, directly with biotech and pharma companies leading personalised medicine research. Sano will use the funding to develop the platform and bring in industry leading customers and partners including precision medicine developers BenevolentAI, ESCAPE Bio, and population-scale cohorts such as the NIHR BioResource.
Patrick Short, CEO and Co-founder, Sano Genetics: “It still takes 10 to 15 years for new drugs to reach patients, and many will never make it out of Research & Development because costs are prohibitive. This funding takes us closer to our mission to build the platform that we, and many others – patients and researchers – wish was available a decade ago. One that will make research much faster, more cost-effective, and a vastly better experience for patients.”
This latest round of funding will be used to grow the Sano team in the US and Europe, and develop the platform to meet demand in 50+ diseases and 6+ countries by mid 2023. As well as speeding up the development of new medicines, Sano aims to dramatically improve the experience for those who take part in potentially life-changing research. Participants receive regular updates as well as insights based on their genetic profiles, and have total control over their data from the intuitive, private-by-design user interface.
Charlotte Barttelot, investor at MMC Ventures: “Since meeting Patrick and the Sano team, we have been consistently impressed with their unwavering purpose-led strategy to promote access to, and the success of, personalised medicine. To deliver on the promise of this new approach to treatment, there is an urgent need to solve the largest problems in clinical trials: patient recruitment and engagement. This is where Sano’s innovative software platform, which allows them to interact directly with patients, biotech and broader healthcare communities, can be transformational for the future of personalised medicine.”
