Antidote Technologies said today that it inked an $11 million funding round to advance its clinical trial matching technologies. The round was led by Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund.
Existing investors Smedvig Capital and Octopus Ventures participated in the round, which is contingent upon obtaining certain regulatory clearances and is expected to close later this year.
Boston-based Antidote reports that 80% of clinical trials are delayed or halted due to a lack of participants. The company’s clinical trial matching platform, Match, uses proprietary algorithms and machine learning to match patients to studies.
Antidote said it plans to use its newly-acquired funds to develop new capabilities for Match, including EHR-matching.
“We are excited to back Antidote given the company’s focus on solving the critical issue of matching patients with the right clinical trials,” Francesca Wuttke, Merck GHI’s managing director, said in prepared remarks. “We think the Antidote approach fits well with our focus on investing in companies that play a critical role in the new digital clinical trial management ecosystem.”
The company, which is participating in the government’s Cancer Moonshot project, also has developed a web and mobile app to help organizations match patients to their portfolios.
“We couldn’t wish for a better endorsement of Antidote’s high-scale ecosystem approach to patient engagement than this round led by Merck GHI, a fund that has a deep understanding of the problem we are solving,” Antidote’s founder & CEO, Pablo Graiver, added. “We are also grateful for the continued support from Octopus Ventures and Smedvig Capital. Antidote is excited to embark on the next stage of transforming medical research to deliver new treatments faster to the people who need them.”
“We are looking to unleash progress by backing entrepreneurs who dare to go big and create change,” Malcolm Ferguson, principal at Octopus Ventures, said. “We have had the privilege of working with Pablo Graiver and the Antidote team since 2013, and we’ve seen the business evolve into a leading player in the clinical trial patient recruitment space through their innovative platform technology. We are excited to have Merck GHI join us on this journey, and we are happy to continue to support Antidote in this next phase of growth.”
“Since its last round of funding, Antidote has successfully implemented its platform and grown significantly in the UK and the US,” Jordan Mayo, advisor and member of the Investment Committee at Smedvig Capital, added. “We are confident the company will continue to expand, providing benefit to trial sponsors, patient organizations, and patients alike.”
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