Category Archives: Healthcare Investors

Blue Heron Capital Invests in Redi Health to Modernize Patient Support Services and Expand Healthcare Access

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RICHMOND, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Blue Heron Capital, an early-stage growth equity firm, is excited to announce its investment in Redi Health, a digital health innovator poised to transform patient support services. This strategic investment is core to Blue Heron’s philosophy of identifying and supporting companies that not only show potential for growth but also address pressing needs within healthcare and technology sectors experiencing meaningful transformation.

The $14M Series B funding round was led by Blue Heron Capital with participation from inside investors Refinery Ventures, Mutual Capital Partners, Rev1 Ventures, and M25. Redi Health plans to use this investment to foster innovation, develop and launch new products, further expand its patient network, and accelerate growth—effectively improving patient health outcomes by connecting Pharma, Providers, and Patients on a single platform.

Redi Health addresses the critical gap in patient support for those navigating complex, high-cost medications. Traditional Patient Support Programs (PSPs), hindered by outdated structures and inaccessibility, have contributed to a non-adherence rate of approximately 70%, leading to estimated losses of over $600 billion annually for the pharmaceutical industry. Redi Health’s innovative platform offers a holistic approach to patient care, providing medication reminders, symptom management, educational resources, and real-time information exchange.

Luke Buchanan, Co-Founder and CEO of Redi Health, stated, “With Blue Heron Capital’s backing, we are at a pivotal moment where we can significantly enhance patient care and outcomes. This investment validates the hard work of our team and the unwavering support of our investors, as we aim to make comprehensive care accessible to millions more across the country.”

The investment in Redi Health underscores Blue Heron Capital’s commitment to fostering innovation that transcends boundaries and empowers patients. Appointing Blue Heron OA Collaborative member Jim Clair to the Board of Directors reinforces this commitment, signaling confidence in Redi Health’s vision and leadership team.

“Our investment in Redi is not merely a financial decision; it’s an embodiment of our trust in the co-founders’ vision, talent, and grit,” added Gordon Crenshaw, Partner at Blue Heron Capital. “We are eager to support these entrepreneurs as they empower patients to improve their health journey.”

About Redi Health

Redi Health empowers patients with chronic conditions to understand, manage, and track their total health through digital support. Their mobile and web platform, Redi Health, integrates health management technology with pharmaceutical manufacturer support, providing a seamless patient experience.

About Blue Heron Capital

Blue Heron Capital is an early-stage growth equity firm funding big ideas in healthcare and enterprise technology. Leveraging a powerful combination of financial capital and the human capital of its OA Collaborative, Blue Heron partners with companies to build businesses that make big impacts.

For additional information, please visit www.blueheroncap.com.

Contacts

Gordon Crenshaw

Partner

Blue Heron Capital

804.212.3393

Epic Sciences Raises $24M in Series G Financing to Continue Funding Commercialization of DefineMBC

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Epic Sciences Raises $24M in Series G Financing to Continue Funding Commercialization of DefineMBC




Epic Sciences Raises $24M in Series G Financing to Continue Funding Commercialization of DefineMBC

Funding will accelerate commercial launch of DefineMBC™

SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Epic Sciences, Inc. (“Epic” or “Epic Sciences”), a privately held diagnostics company, has completed a $24 million Series G which together with its $43 million Series F financing, totals $67 million raised in the last twelve months. The company will use the capital from this additional round of private investment to fund the commercial infrastructure required to commercialize the three component tests of DefineMBC, which together provide a comprehensive blood-based biopsy result for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

The investment was co-led by Deerfield Management and Arsenal Capital Partners, and included broad participation from the company’s shareholders including Blue Ox Healthcare Partners, Domain Ventures, and Labcorp.

“I’m excited to announce that Epic’s pre-launch activities related to DefineMBC have exceeded our expectations. We have delivered comprehensive test results to 700 patients and their oncologists in our Clinical Experience Program,” said Lloyd Sanders, President and CEO, Epic Sciences. “We have surveyed the physicians participating in the Clinical Experience Program and their responses indicate that oncologists see the value in DefineMBC’s ability to provide actionable information that allows them to better care for their patients.”

DefineMBC™ provides the most comprehensive blood-based biopsy results available to patients with metastatic breast cancer by delivering a report which includes:

  • detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs)
  • assessment of HER-2 cellular protein expression coupled with

    • single-cell sequencing of identified cells to assess amplification of the ERBB2 gene locus
  • assessment of ER cellular protein expression
  • a plasma-based, 56-gene panel of cell-free DNA including

    • ERBB2 and PIK3CA
    • tumor mutational burden (TMB)

The new investment will enable the company’s efforts related to the commercialization of the DefineMBC tests, including the continued expansion of the company’s new market-facing departments: sales, product marketing, customer service, medical affairs, payer markets, and billing. The investment also continues to fund the development of additional concordance and outcomes data for the DefineMBC tests.

Andrew El Bardissi, a member of the company’s board of directors and Partner at Deerfield Management, said, “Deerfield is pleased to support Epic Sciences at this critical stage of commercialization. We believe DefineMBC is poised to change the management of metastatic breast cancer.”

About Epic Sciences

Epic Sciences, Inc. is developing and marketing novel diagnostics to guide therapy selection and monitor disease progression, personalizing and advancing the treatment and management of prostate and breast cancers. The company’s liquid biopsy platform leverages proven, proprietary cell analysis capabilities as well as cell-free analysis to provide more complete, efficient analysis and clearer insights – Comprehensive Cancer Profiling. Using its full-service CAP/CLIA-accredited laboratory and research support services, Epic Sciences partners with leading pharmaceutical companies and major cancer centers around the world to improve patient outcomes.

For more information, visit www.epicsciences.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

About Arsenal Capital Partners

Arsenal is a leading private equity firm that specializes in investments in healthcare and industrial growth companies. Since its inception in 2000, Arsenal has raised institutional equity investment funds of more than $10 billion, has completed more than 250 platform and add-on investments, and achieved more than 30 realizations. Arsenal invests in industry sectors in which the firm has significant prior knowledge and experience. The firm works with management teams to build strategically important companies with leading market positions, high growth, and high value-add. Visit www.arsenalcapital.com for more information.

Contacts

Brian.Strike@EpicSciences.com

Genialis Raises $13M to Build Clinical Biomarkers that Predict Patient Response

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Genialis Raises $13M to Build Clinical Biomarkers that Predict Patient Response




Genialis Raises $13M to Build Clinical Biomarkers that Predict Patient Response

Through AI/ML-enabled platform with a biology-first approach, Genialis looks to propel drug development, diagnostics and treatment planning

BOSTON & LJUBLJANA, Slovenia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#ISO27001—Genialis, a computational precision medicine company unraveling complex biology to find new ways to address disease, today announced it raised more than $13 million in Series A financing to transform the way diseases are diagnosed and treatment decisions are made. Taiwania Capital and Debiopharm Innovation Fund co-led the round, with participation from previous investors First Star Ventures, Redalpine Venture Partners, and Pikas. Other new investors include P5 Health Ventures and several Angels. Ita Lu of Taiwania and Hamzeh Abdul-Hadi of Debiopharm will join Genialis’ Board of Directors.

Genialis is developing next-generation patient classifiers using machine learning and high-throughput omics data to capture underlying disease biology and predict how patients will likely respond to targeted therapies. The company will use the funds from the Series A to expand its proprietary ResponderID™ platform and build out its comprehensive collection of clinically validated biomarker models to provide pinpoint diagnoses for virtually every cancer patient. To date, Genialis has used ResponderID in collaboration with biopharma to analyze clinical trial data and inform future trial designs for numerous investigational drugs. Genialis also supports the commercialization of next-gen biomarker assays with several leading diagnostic firms.

“With ResponderID, we sought to disrupt the historical linear progression of drug discovery and development, rather aiming to close the loop between drug development, patient care and new drug discovery,” said Rafael Rosengarten, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Genialis. “We chose to focus initially on biomarkers that improve the efficiency of drug development, that ensure the right patient gets the right medicine, and make an impact on real people’s lives in a shorter period of time.”

ResponderID is a machine learning platform for clinical and translational research, built from years of experience working with partners across the industry and advanced internal R&D. ResponderID yields new biomarkers for drug development and discovery programs, as well as diagnostic tests. ResponderID can read the status of virtually any NGS-based biomarker, including bespoke and proprietary signatures, from a single assay. The resulting output provides clinical and translational researchers with a comprehensive molecular portrait of patient disease phenotype enabling the most informed decision-making possible.

“ResponderID, Genialis’ predictive biomarker platform, enables precision medicine by identifying patients that are most likely to respond to treatments. Its use in drug development will optimize study designs and improve chances of clinical trials success, driving much-needed productivity gains for pharma R&D and accelerating the time to market for promising new drugs,” said Hamzeh Abdul-Hadi, Investment Director at Debiopharm Innovation Fund.

Last year, 10 publications and poster presentations at major scientific conferences featured results generated with ResponderID, including AACR, ESMO, and SITC. Genialis also co-authored a paper in the Journal of Clinical Oncology describing OncXerna’s navicixizumab ph1b trial, including retrospective analysis with the Xerna TME Panel.

“Genialis is leading the collision of biology and AI. Our approach is biology first, but with a deep commitment to getting the data science right. Thus, we only succeed as a team that understands both worlds,” said Miha Stajdohar, Ph.D., co-founder and CTO of Genialis. “This capital brings together a global syndicate of clinical oncology and deep tech experts and will allow us to grow our in-house capabilities in multiple disciplines.”

Genialis is growing its teams in both the U.S. and Slovenia across business, operations, life science and data science functions, and expanding its advisory boards. The company is also investing in R&D collaborations with several leading cancer centers, hospital groups and clinical academic labs.

“Genialis has an impressively clear vision, compelling AI-drug discovery biomarker models, and robust underlying science supporting their platform. We look forward to working closely with the Genialis team to explore and pursue growth opportunities in this burgeoning space,” said Ita Lu, Managing Partner, Taiwania Capital Management.

Genialis will present a poster at the Genomics in Precision Oncology Xchange on April 5, 2023, in Boston. The next day, they will host a roundtable discussion at the Oncology Companion Diagnostics Xchange, also in Boston. Genialis is attending AACR 2023 from April 14-19 in Orlando, Fla., where it is co-presenting a poster with OncXerna Therapeutics and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. For more information on ResponderID, please email info@genialis.com or visit www.genialis.com.

About Genialis

Genialis is a computational precision medicine company unraveling complex biology to find new ways to address disease. ResponderID™, Genialis’ machine-learning-driven disease modeling platform, delivers actionable biomarkers and optimally positions novel drugs to accelerate translational research, streamline drug development and ensure the best possible clinical care. Genialis is trusted by pharma and diagnostics partners, and together, we bring precision to medicine.

About Taiwania Capital

Taiwania Capital is a venture capital firm founded in August 2017 by the National Development Fund of the Executive Yuan of Taiwan and private enterprises. It is a national venture capital firm that manages six funds mainly focused on technology and biotechnology. As of the end of 2022, the total size of funds reached US$865 million. The firm has invested in 61 enterprises and startups at home and abroad, five of which have been listed in Taiwan and America. Taiwania Capital has assisted fourteen foreign enterprises in starting partnerships or building plants in Taiwan. Taiwania Capital has offices in Taiwan, the United States, and Central and Eastern Europe. https://en.taiwaniacapital.com/

About Debiopharm Innovation Fund

Debiopharm Innovation Fund, the strategic investment arm of Swiss biopharmaceutical company Debiopharm, provides funding and guidance for companies with an ambition to improve the patient journey and transform pharmaceutical R&D. Since 2017 Debiopharm has invested in 20 AI and digital health companies, typically leading the investment rounds. https://www.debiopharm.com/digital-health/

Contacts

Media Contact
Andrea Vuturo

Vuturo Group for Genialis

andrea@vuturo.com
+1-415-689-8414

Pragma Bio Secures $10M From The Venture Collective, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Viking Global, and CJ Investments To Expand Its Proprietary Technology Platform To Discover Novel Medicines

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Pragma Bio Secures $10M From The Venture Collective, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Viking Global, and CJ Investments To Expand Its Proprietary Technology Platform To Discover Novel Medicines




Pragma Bio Secures $10M From The Venture Collective, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Viking Global, and CJ Investments To Expand Its Proprietary Technology Platform To Discover Novel Medicines

Pragma Bio developed a first-of-its-kind-map of chemicals designed by nature, housed in humans, and linked to immune-related health outcomes

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pragma Bio, the technology-enabled platform for drug discovery formerly known as VastBiome, announced it has raised an additional $10 million in equity to continue its development of proprietary methods in genomic sequencing, artificial intelligence and synthetic biology to discover biomarkers and novel therapeutics to treat immunologic disorders.

The Venture Collective, led the round joined by investors Viking Global Investors, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and CJ Investments (Korean-based strategic investor). The round brings the company’s total venture backing to $15 million.

Pragma Bio is utilizing patient data to explore the synergistic bond between nature’s chemistry found in the human body and the immune system with the goal of discovering novel medicines. The new funding will help the company expand its operations, increase product development, and recruit new team members to fuel Pragma Bio’s growth.

“The infusion of funding reflects our goal of unveiling the symbiotic relationship between nature and the human body, enabling us to create natural medicines that foster our well-being,” said Kareem Barghouti, the CEO of Pragma Bio. “The participation of world-class healthcare investors is a validation of our approach, which is aimed at uncovering medicines naturally produced within our bodies every day. Patients are waiting for better options, and Pragma Bio will offer them,” he added.

Pragma Bio has created a hypothesis generating discovery engine called Lattice, which archives and sorts through countless interactions and correlations between natural products and human cells that are linked to clinical outcomes. Biologically significant microbial genes are subsequently manipulated and transferred to the laboratory, utilizing state-of-the-art technology to produce and manifest a collection of enzymes and natural chemistries. The company has already gained considerable momentum in discovering immuno-oncology biomarkers and facilitating scalable enzyme expression. Pragma Bio has also established academic and pharmaceutical partnerships with global leaders. Furthermore, Pragma Bio has assembled a team of world-renowned drug hunters that have successfully generated over $30 billion in exits and commercialized medicines. Together, they bring a wealth of expertise to the table, working hand in hand with highly experienced data scientists, chemists and biologists driving the development of the therapeutics platform.

Nick Shekerdemian, Founding Partner of The Venture Collective said “We truly believe that the natural world holds so much potential for treating diseases that lack good therapeutic options. We are excited to work with the outstanding team at Pragma to bridge the gap between natural products and rationally designed therapeutics in order to improve the lives of patients everywhere.”

Prem Tumkosit, Managing Director of the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund (GHIF) said “GHIF made its initial investment in Pragma Bio in 2020 out of our Next Horizon investment area, which focuses on ground breaking technologies.” Adding that “We’re thrilled to continue our support for Pragma Bio in this financing.”

The name Pragma Bio encapsulates the company’s mission holistically. In computer programming, pragma refers to a compiler directive that transforms program code into executable actions, effectively bringing the code to life. Pragma Bio is built upon the concept of bringing program code and genetic code to life in a pragmatic fashion.

About Pragma Bio:

Pragma Bio is a tech-enabled therapeutics company creating the first-of-its-kind-map of chemicals designed by nature, housed in humans, and linked to immune-related health outcomes. Pragma Bio is forging into uncharted territory, leveraging the most advanced technologies in machine learning and synthetic biology to scale intelligent discovery with iterative biomanufacturing in the pursuit of novel enzymes and their respective novel chemistries with strong biological signals and desirable therapeutic properties. Pragma Bio is dedicated to developing innovative solutions to bring life-changing medicines to patients through internal efforts and trusted partners. For more information on Pragma Bio, visit pragmabio.com.

Contacts

Media Relations

+1-650-479-5539

info@pragmabio.com

Nina Capital

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They have a vision for the future in which data, computing, networks, and other digital and deep technologies deliver meaningful outcomes and insight for improving health and the provision of care. They believe the creation of new businesses is built on in-depth understanding of the complex network of healthcare system participants, and marrying that with meaningful engineering innovation, advanced data science, and information technology-enabled products and services. Nina Capital looks for and seeds founders determined to effectively and efficiently serve these participants on the European continent and internationally (mainly Europe, Israel, US). Nina Capital is committed to addressing needs across the care continuum, healthcare systems, and all specialties.

Their investment criterias are :

  • Digital Health, Data science related to health systems
  • Mainly Europe, Israel and US
  • Tickets : from 150k€ to 1m€

Nina Capital’s team is composed by professionals with deep experience in Venture Capital and execution support for Digital Health startups.

Contacts at Ship2B Ventures: Contacts

Their sweet spot is at seeding founders who are marrying in-depth understanding of the complex network of healthcare system participants with meaningful engineering innovation, advanced data science, and information technology-enabled products and services. From their home base in europe, they look for and support need-driven founders determined to effectively and efficiently serve these participants internationally.

Nina Capital invests broadly across the european continent, the united kingdom, israel, the united states, and canada, with a collaborative approach in both the way they work and how they interact with other players in the digital health industry. Their goal is to help thoughtful and committed teams bridge the chasm from founding to series A capital and access global markets. They prefer to invest at the pre-seed and seed stages, and follow-on in select portfolio companies as they reach series A readiness. They uphold principles of Biodesign in their investment approach, confident that need-driven technology ventures generate the highest value in healthcare and for their investors.

To find more Healthcare Investors like this one, check our Healthcare Investors Database , Pharma Biopharma Investors Database, Diagnostics Investors Database, Medical Device MedTech Investors Database, Digital Health eHealth Investors Database and Industrial Biotech Investors Database .

Ship2B Ventures

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Venture Capital firm that invests in the best impact startups. As impact investors they seek to generate triple profitability: economic, social and environmental. They combine the best of the venture capital world with the impact world, maximizing the financial profitability of their investments with a clear intention to generate, manage and measure their impact.

Their investment criterias are :

  • Early Stage Startups
  • Commited and experiences team
  • Impact-based business models
  • Disruptive innovations and technologies
  • Scalability and global vision

S2B Ventures mainly invest in Spain and Spanish startups. Main sectors for investments : digital health, medical devices and diagnostics.

Ticket size : usually invests between 200k€ and 2m€.

Ship2B Ventures team is composed by professionals with deep experience in Venture Capital and execution support for impact startups.  

Contacts at Ship2B Ventures: Contacts

Ship2B Ventures

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Venture Capital firm that invests in the best impact startups. As impact investors they seek to generate triple profitability: economic, social and environmental. They combine the best of the venture capital world with the impact world, maximizing the financial profitability of their investments with a clear intention to generate, manage and measure their impact. Venture Capital firm that invests in the best impact startups. As impact investors they seek to generate triple profitability: economic, social and environmental. They combine the best of the venture capital world with the impact world, maximizing the financial profitability of their investments with a clear intention to generate, manage and measure their impact. Venture Capital firm that invests in the best impact startups. As impact investors they seek to generate triple profitability: economic, social and environmental. They combine the best of the venture capital world with the impact world, maximizing the financial profitability of their investments with a clear intention to generate, manage and measure their impact. Venture Capital firm that invests in the best impact startups. As impact investors they seek to generate triple profitability: economic, social and environmental. They combine the best of the venture capital world with the impact world, maximizing the financial profitability of their investments with a clear intention to generate, manage and measure their impact.

To find more Healthcare Investors like this one, check our Healthcare Investors Database , Pharma Biopharma Investors Database, Diagnostics Investors Database, Medical Device MedTech Investors Database, Digital Health eHealth Investors Database and Industrial Biotech Investors Database .