Cambridge-based PredictImmune is developing prognostic tests to guide treatment options and improving patient outcomes for immune-mediated diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn’s disease, and lupus.
Founded in 2017 as a spin-out of Cambridge University, the startup has just raised €11 million in Series B funding. The investment came from existing investors Parkwalk and Cambridge Enterprise, and new investors including BGF and Cambridge Innovation Capital.
Based on over ten years of research at Cambridge University, PredictImmune has developed a simple blood test for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis to accurately identify patients who are at risk of experiencing severe, relapsing disease and could benefit from certain biopharmaceutical interventions.
Immune-mediated diseases, such as IBD and lupus, are chronic and incurable with clinical courses that vary among individuals with the same disease. PredictImmune’s test enables both clinicians and patients to understand the likely course of disease at the point of diagnosis – differentiating between an aggressive or milder form of the disease – and opens up the possibility of better treatment choices from the outset. According to research at Cambridge, 98% of specialist physicians see a need for prognostic tests in these areas, and they would lead to an estimated 30% decrease in associated treatment costs.
The investment will enable PredictImmune to build on the successful launch of its first product, PredictSURE IBD™, with a focus on continued commercial expansion across Europe, the US, and the rest of the world in the coming months.
It funding will also allow the organization to expand in terms of product development – expanding existing activities in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as well as into a range of additional autoimmune areas including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and build a portfolio of new products to complement and enrich PredictImmune’s prognostic test pipeline in the coming years.
“PredictImmune is at the forefront of personalized medicine, enabling improved treatment choice for patients with immune-mediated diseases,” said Michael Anstey, Partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital. “We are especially excited about their lead product PredictSURE IBD™, which has the potential to end ‘trial-and-error medicine’ for patients suffering with IBD.”
“Parkwalk are delighted to continue to support the ground breaking technology from Dr Ken Smith’s laboratory at Addenbrookes, which enables the prognosis of IBD and an earlier clinical decision as to the correct drug treatment,” said Alastair Kilgour, co-founder and Partner at Parkwalk. “This will significantly improve clinical outcomes and enhance patient welfare. The team at PredictImmune have done a magnificent job in productising the technology and are now taking the tests on their commercial pathway. We look forward to seeing the platform extended to benefit clinical outcomes in further diseases.”
“I am delighted with the level of investment secured in this latest round,” said Paul Kinnon, CEO, PredictImmune. “It’s particularly gratifying to see our existing investors’ confidence in PredictImmune as they follow their initial investments and equally exciting to welcome new investors too. This investment will enable us to keep up the momentum, pushing on with our commercial expansion across the UK, Europe, the USA and rest of the world, whilst also allowing for the expansion and development of our product pipeline. It’s an exciting time to be part of PredictImmune, and as a team we are extremely motivated by both progress to date and our future objectives, especially around enabling improved treatment choice in patients being diagnosed with IBD.”
