Hitachi Ventures and Optum Ventures contributed to a $110m round for precision immunology technology developer Scipher, already backed by Echo Health Ventures.

US-based precision immunology therapy developer Scipher Medicine closed a $110m funding round today featuring Hitachi Ventures and Optum Ventures, on behalf of electronics conglomerate Hitachi and healthcare services provider Optum respectively. Cowen Healthcare Investments led the round, which was filled out by Neuberger Berman, Laurion Capital, Monashee Investment Management, Northpond Ventures, aMoon, Khosla Ventures, Echo Innovation Alliance and Alumni Ventures. Founded in 2014, Scipher has developed a system that uncovers a patient’s unique molecular disease signature and identifies the most effective treatment for their autoimmune condition using blood tests. The molecular and clinical data generated through the tests is then also used to drive the discovery and development of more effective therapeutics through partnerships with pharmaceutical firms. The company was co-founded by Joseph Loscalzo, head of the Department of Medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, a teaching hospital for Harvard University’s Medical School, and Albert-László Barabási, the Robert Gray Dodge professor of network science at Northeastern University. Barabási also holds an appointment at Harvard Medical School. Tim Anderson, partner and head of research at Cowen Healthcare Investments, will join Scipher’s board of directors in connection with the round. Alif Saleh, chief executive of Scipher Medicine, said: “We are thrilled to partner with world-class investors who support our mission to solve one of the largest problems in healthcare today harming individual patients as well as our healthcare system at large. It is deeply rewarding to experience more and more patients benefitting from our solutions every day.” The company has now raised $227m in funding altogether, it confirmed. Khosla Ventures had provided an undisclosed amount in 2018 that brought its total funding at the time to $10m. Northpond Ventures led a series B round of undisclosed size for Scipher in 2019, participating alongside Alumni Ventures, Tachyon Ventures, Khosla Ventures and existing shareholder Granpool Innovative Investments. Optum Ventures subsequently supplied an unspecified amount in early 2020 before Scipher procured $82m in a March 2021 series C round co-led by Northpond Ventures and aMoon, with commitments from corporate-backed venture capital firm Echo Health Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Alumni Ventures. The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.

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Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).