CRO

Sanofi, Amgen and Google-backed Science 37 raises $29M in Series C

After raising $31 million just last year, California-based clinical research company Science 37 has now served up a Series C round worth $29 million, with Glynn Capital Management leading the cash boost, with help from Google’s venture arm GV, as it plots scaling up its ops and expanding around the globe.

The latest round also included new investments from Amgen Ventures, as well as participation from its investors Lux Capital, Redmile Group, dRx Capital (a Qualcomm and Novartis joint investment company), and Sanofi Ventures. The total invested capital since inception has now hit $67 million.

Science 37 has been on a speedy path as just last October, it raised $31 million in a Series B round, with its mission to “expand clinical trial access to anyone, anywhere, anytime.” The company tells FierceCRO that its “metasite” model allows for "better recruitment and retention", and are enrolling at "20-30 times faster" than traditional methods. 

That Series B was led by Redmile Group (whose Managing Director Rob Faulkner will also join the firm as a board member), with further funding from Series A lead investors Lux Capital and dRx Capital, as well as investment from Sanofi Genzyme BioVentures.

Sanofi is also doing more than just stumping up cash, as it will give Science 37 “technical and strategic guidance through interactions with their international development teams and their affiliates working in the clinical trial ecosystem.”

Sanofi in fact doubled down on the company this year, signing its first pact with Science 37 last month that is aimed at improving recruitment and reducing trial times with new siteless study tech.

The "SanofiScience 37" approach, which has come out of the deal, will allow patients to be monitored and report to researchers via an Apple iPhone that is equipped with the company’s NORA tech (a.k.a. Network Oriented Research Assistant), its cloud-based mobile research platform.

Noah Craft, M.D., Ph.D, and co-founder and CEO of Science 37, said: “We’ve seen great success thus far in the model we developed. It has not only increased the number of people able to participate in clinical trials, but also reduced the time it takes to recruit by nearly 50% in some cases.

“The new funding will help us drive continued expansion and recruit top talent from both the technology and from the clinical trial industries. The round will also allow us to expand into new therapeutic areas and to introduce these trials to a much broader set of demographics, including those with limited access to major medical facilities where these trials are typically offered.”

“Science 37 has developed a novel, decentralized framework for running clinical trials,” added Krishna Yeshwant, general partner at GV. “The company has completed clinical trials with impressive early results, and has a great combination of operational expertise in clinical research, coupled with software sensibilities."

The new funding will help speed up additional development of its NORA software platform, and a company spokesperson said it would also be used to scale and train teams for "the big body of work ahead," and recruit top talent while investing "heavily" in their tech. It will in addition look to expand into new markets and therapeutic areas, and prep for “international expansion in the coming years.”