Israeli startup OncoHost introduced at the moment an upsized and oversubscribed $35 million Sequence C funding spherical, led by ALIVE Israel HealthTech VC, with the participation of Leumi Companions, Menora Mivtachim, OurCrowd and different present traders.
Scientific trial outcomes have proven OncoHost’s AI-powered precision oncology platform to have remarkably excessive accuracy in assessing non-small cell lung most cancers (NSCLC) affected person response at three months, six months and one yr. Via one blood check pre-treatment, the corporate’s multi-patented platform additionally supplies clinicians with potential mixture methods to beat therapy resistance.
OncoHost CEO Dr. Sharon at work
OncoHost
Final yr, OncoHost CEO Dr. Ofer Sharon instructed me that “For immunotherapy, crucial therapy modality we now have at the moment, the response price on common throughout all most cancers sorts is about 20%. With all of the promise of immunotherapy, when you have ten sufferers ready in your ready room with superior most cancers, solely two shall be alive in two years.”
OncoHost combines proprietary bioinformatics, sign processing, and machine studying to deliver precision medication to oncology by way of the comparatively new area of proteomics. Understanding the proteome, the construction and performance of every protein and the complexities of protein-to-protein interactions are vital for creating the simplest diagnostic strategies and illness remedies.
The proteomic profile ensuing from OncoHost’s evaluation of seven,000 proteins within the affected person’s plasma is extremely predictive of particular person affected person end result, enabling personalised therapy planning. It additionally helps in figuring out potential drug targets, advancing the event of novel therapeutic methods.
In a current OurCrowd webinar on “Investing in Precision Medicine,” Dr. Sharon noticed that “most sufferers, sadly, will not be responding to therapy, and the issue is that whenever you begin treating your affected person, you have no idea which affected person will reply or not. Typically as much as six and even 9 months into remedy. So we’re losing loads of time, we’re losing some huge cash. And most significantly, we’re shedding time for our sufferers.”
OncoHost’s precision oncology platform predicts the trajectory for the primary 12 months of therapy and the corporate checks have proven that the anticipated response and measured response meshed very carefully. As well as, by mapping resistance, OncoHost can direct physicians to the suitable therapy pathways, and establish potential new combos to mitigate resistance. “Clearly, a 78-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man will not be the identical affected person,” Dr. Sharon says. “For me, the promise of this product is the flexibility to essentially discover the suitable therapy for the suitable affected person.”
The corporate’s goal market of late-stage immunotherapy-treated most cancers sufferers represents expenditure of about $6 billion, Dr. Sharon estimates. The proteomics market is predicted to develop to $50 billion in 2027 from $21.1 billion in 2019.
“With promising and vital medical outcomes, OncoHost’s distinctive method can create a brighter and higher future for the world of precision oncology, maximizing the probability of choosing the proper remedy combos and dramatically enhancing therapeutic outcomes for most cancers sufferers. We’re assured that Oncohost is ready to develop into a pivotal proteomics market chief in personalised oncology therapy,” Prof. Ari Shamiss, ALIVE’s co-founder and common managing accomplice, stated in an announcement at the moment.
OncoHost continues to open extra medical trial websites all over the world and shall be increasing its analysis to additional most cancers indications. PROphet, its precision oncology platform, is ready to launch within the U.S. within the third quarter of 2022.
