Sherlock catches $31m with Baidu’s help

Sherlock Biosciences, a US-based molecular diagnostics platform based on research at Harvard University, closed a $31m series A round on Tuesday following a $13.5m extension featuring Baidu Ventures, a corporate venturing arm of internet group Baidu.
Nonprofit group Open Philanthropy Project and VC firm Northpond Ventures also took part, alongside several unnamed investors.
Sherlock previously raised an initial $17.5m in series A funding from Open Philanthropy Project and unnamed investors in March 2019.
The spinout was formally launched last month to develop molecular-level diagnostic tools based on synthetic biology and the Crispr gene editing technology, whose lead inventor Feng Zhang heads Sherlock’s scientific advisory board.
Zhang, the James and Patricia Poitras professor of neuroscience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), led researchers from Harvard and MIT’s collaborative Broad Institute to design the Sherlock platform, which identifies specific genetic targets across multiple organisms and sample types.
Sherlock Biosciences is also developing a synthetic biology-powered platform called Inspectr that is highly responsive to nucleic acids. Inspectr discerns targets from a single nucleotide, the structural building block containing DNA and RNA, without requiring additional lab equipment.
Inspectr uses technology invented at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering by core faculty member Jim Collins, a co-founder of Sherlock Biosciences who also holds an appointment at MIT as the Termeer professor of medical engineering and science.
Sherlock expects its tools will perform molecular diagnostics at low cost, allowing them to be deployed in a variety of settings, including in agriculture and at-home testing products as well as oncology, infectious disease and resource-efficient diagnostics.
The company will use the series A capital to drive development of both of its platforms and will consult Baidu and its other investors to gain technical expertise in deep learning and artificial intelligence.
Saman Farid, partner and head of the US team at Baidu Ventures, said: “With Sherlock and Inspectr, Sherlock is poised to make a significant impact on the diagnostic testing industry.
“We are excited to work with the Sherlock team, which includes world-leading experts in Crispr and synthetic biology, experienced scientists, and industry veterans, to incorporate artificial intelligence into the design of its diagnostic tests and fulfil the promise of these exciting technologies.”