Mission Bio
Great strides have been made in the fight against cancer. However, there are still critical impediments to progress. According to Mission Bio, only 3% of cancer drugs tested in clinical trials between 2000 and 2015 have been approved to treat patients, and even those that have been approved are not as effective as we’d hope. Because disease progression and therapy response are based on differences in genetic alterations across cells, it’s important to comprehensively measure protein, DNA mutations, and copy number alterations (CNVs) in every cell. Mission Bio, therefore, is trying to address this through its Tapestri Platform. The single-cell multi-omic platform is capable of detecting both DNA and protein changes simultaneously from the same cell, offering an insight into an individual’s cancer cells. Over the past year, Mission Bio has advanced its efforts to support drug development through clinical trials and the translation of research into novel biomarkers, demonstrated by ongoing work with NCI cancer centers and leading biopharma companies. Recently, the firm raised $70 million in a Series C financing, bringing the company’s total funding to more than $120 million.