LA-based clinical research company Science 37 has raised $31 million in a Series B round as it looks to “expand clinical trial access to anyone, anywhere, anytime.”
The Series B was led by Redmile Group (whose MD Rob Faulkner will also join the firm as a board member), with further funding from Series A lead investors Lux Capital and dRx Capital, as well as investment from Sanofi Genzyme BioVentures.
Sanofi ($SNY) 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.”
The essence of what Science 37 does is to bring clinical trials into people’s homes, decentralizing setup and promising to help decrease costs while also increasing recruitment, always a major problem in studies.
The company, which is mainly a tech-based outfit, says it supplants physical trial sites with a single “metasite” and brings what the sponsor needs for their trial into a patient’s home.
It’s made possible by a cloud-based mobile research platform called Network Oriented Research Assistant that connects investigators and patients over the trial period and also allows patients to keep their own doc.
“The clinical trial process represents significant cost and risk in the development cycle for new therapeutics and medical devices,” said incoming director Faulkner.
“Science 37 brings a revolutionary approach to the clinical trial process and our investment underscores our confidence in the company's ability to deliver faster and less expensive clinical trials.”