Clinical trials research company Medable secured $91 million in Series C funding to continue efforts to revamp the way clinical trials are performed. This is the second investment this year for the company, which raised a $25 million round in May.
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Sapphire Ventures led the new round of funding and was joined by existing investors GSR Ventures, PPD and Streamlined Ventures. The funding brings Medable’s total capital raised to more than $136 million since the company’s inception in 2015.
Palo Alto-based Medable aims to reduce clinical trial timelines by 50 percent through its decentralized trial platform by streamlining design, recruitment, retention and the collection of data. Siloed systems are replaced with integrated digital tools, data and interfaces to accelerate trial execution. In addition, Medable connects patients, sites and clinical trial teams to improve patient access, experience and outcomes.
The company grew revenue by more than 500 percent in 2020 as a shift occurred toward decentralizing clinical trials, Medable co-founder and CEO Michelle Longmire, M.D., told Crunchbase News.
“We are looking at capturing high-quality data through connected devices, as well as providing a seamless user experience,” she added. “The world is gravitating toward digital health, and while Medable was early to the party with digital connections, we are now seeing a larger appetite for it, which is driving adoption.”
The new funding comes on the heels of new application launches, including TeleVisit, TeleConsent and TeleCOA that connect patients virtually with sites and sponsors so they can get medical advice, capture informed consent and re-consent, and share clinical outcome assessments.
Back in May, Longmire estimated that 70 clinical trials were related to COVID-19, and that number has essentially quadrupled, she said. It is one of the areas where the new funds will be useful to meet that demand, she said. In general, Medable customers reported three times faster enrollment and 90 percent retention rates.
Now that the company has gone through this acceleration, Longmire expects to see both patient and clinician preferences in relation to clinical trials whenever the world becomes post-COVID. In addition, clinical trial teams are becoming more comfortable with the technology and where it ultimately fits in, and will have more experience on the backside, including where to use the technology when designing future trials, she added.
“This is a big milestone for the company,” Longmire said. “This technology and any new technology will shorten the timeline for clinical trials, and to be in this position is really exciting.”
Meanwhile, as part of the investment, David Hartwig, managing director at Sapphire Ventures, is joining Medable’s board.
“We’re all aware of the challenges with clinical trials, and it’s a problem we’re excited to help solve,” Hartwig said in a written statement. “Medable is doing groundbreaking work, and we’re excited to partner with Michelle and team as they revolutionize how care is being delivered by digitizing the clinical trial process.”