Madison, WI Sep 15, 2021 -- Elephas Biosciences Corporation (Elephas), a private company developing a live tumor diagnostics platform, announced today that is has raised $20 million in Series A funding.  Northpond Ventures led the round with participation from Sands Capital and WARF Ventures. The Series A round was preceded by investments of $8M, led by the founder with participation from early seed investors.

The Elephas platform is being designed with the objective of aiding the process by which patients get prescribed therapies for cancer. By using patients’ live tumor biopsies, the company can more quickly and accurately assess a patient’s response to therapy, in particular, response to immunotherapy.  Oncology is the world’s largest pharmaceutical therapeutic area and immunotherapies have emerged as a promising option for cancer patients in the last 10 years. Elephas is leading the way to deliver a transformative diagnostic platform by harnessing the latest advances in cancer biology, multimodal microscopy, and artificial intelligence to empower clinical decision making and accelerate drug development.

"Improving outcomes for cancer patients is a must. The Elephas platform is uniquely positioned to achieve this mission,” stated Andrea Jackson, Director of Northpond Ventures. "We believe Elephas’ platform could be critical in improving individual’s cancer journey by streamlining the treatment decision-making process for clinicians.”

In May, the company licensed two patents through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the independent technology transfer organization of the University of Wisconsin — Madison. Both patents are for using advanced imaging to aid in the diagnosis and detection of cancer. Following the license agreement, WARF Ventures participated in the Series A financing.

“I am grateful for the support of incredible venture firms like Northpond and Sands,” Arora said. “Also, Elephas is fortunate to have the endorsement of, and to be surrounded by such a renowned research institution. WARF acts not only as a catalyst for intellectual property and talent, but a growing ecosystem to help us achieve our goals.”

Elephas has assembled a cross-functional team with strong expertise in life sciences and specifically, oncology. Executive appointments include Dr. Jon Oliner, co-founder and chief science officer, Mike Szulczewski, EVP Technology, and Dr. Pascual Starink, VP Software Engineering & Analytics.  Under this innovative team, the company has grown to 41 employees who operate within the company’s 14,942 sq ft headquarters, located on the west side of Madison.

About Elephas
Disruption in healthcare is being accelerated by the need for improved diagnostics, novel pharmaceutical therapies, and the shift to patient-centric solutions. With the mission to tackle the massive oncology dilemma, Elephas is leading the way to change how clinicians treat cancer patients. By harnessing the latest advances in cancer biology, multimodal microscopy, and artificial intelligence, the Elephas platform has the ability to empower clinical decision making and accelerate drug development. We plan to use the power of our platform to deliver a global solution that can revolutionize cancer treatment for every individual. To learn more, visit us at www.elephas.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Northpond Ventures
Northpond Ventures is a multi-billion dollar science-driven venture capital firm based in Cambridge, MA; San Francisco, CA; and Bethesda, MD. Northpond has been named one of the three most active lead biotech investors in 2021 by Crunchbase, and the most active lead investor in life science solutions and molecular diagnostics by Silicon Valley Bank. It is particularly engaged in the research ecosystem, having founded a bioengineering laboratory at Harvard, and sponsored a prize for women entrepreneurs at MIT. It has led over 50 financings over the past several years, with a high percentage having an academic origin. Learn more at npv.vc.

Contact
Alison Guzzio
CGLife on Behalf of Elephas
aguzzio@cglife.com
484-459-3243