Foundation Medicine uses DNA, $42.5M to treat cancer

Cigarettes, chemicals, and sunlight are well-known causes of cancer, and people can respond accordingly to these risk factors by abstaining from smoking, buying organic, and slathering on the sunscreen. But what about the causes that can’t be mediated?

Genetics (and family history) play a significant role in cancer detection and treatment as well, and Foundation Medicine has raised $42.5 million for its technology that investigates the genetic makeup of cancer patients and uses this knowledge to match patients with the best treatments.

The flagship product, FoundationOne, is a genomic profiler that uncovers genetic alterations in a patient and reports them to the physician. With a deeper understanding of each particular case and the ways the cells are working, physicians can better prescribe drugs, clinical trials, and other medical regimens.

FoundationOne is available for all solid tumors, and results can be gleaned from just 50ng of DNA. The platform can easily be integrated into an oncologist’s practice and with this funding, will continue to develop and scale the product commercially.

Investors include Deerfield Management Company, Casin Capital, Redmile Group, Roche Venture Funds, and WuXi Corporate Venture Fund. Previous backers Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Third Rock Ventures contributed again, following last year’s Series A of $33.5 million.

Foundation Medicine is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its mission is to create products and services based on genomic analysys that can be used in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Read the press release.