India-based MedGenome has raised $20 million Series B round from Sequoia Capital. The company that provides genomics research services globally will use the funds to build its cutting-edge bioinformatics infrastructure, enhance sequencing facilities in India and the US, and expand its research and scientific teams.
MedGenome operates the largest privately owned, fully independent Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) lab in India, a country comprised of thousands of distinct ethnic groups whose high level genetic homogeneity creates an environment for genomic analysis unlike anywhere else in the world. This genetic resource enables pharmaceutical and biotech companies to better understand and develop treatments for cancer, diabetes, neurological disorders and other inherited diseases.
MedGenome operates the largest privately owned, fully independent Next Generation Sequencing lab in India.MedGenome’s genomics platform is already being used in a number of projects in areas such as cancer and immunotherapies, metabolic diseases, Parkinson’s disease, kidney, liver, and ophthalmological diseases, diabetes, deafness, and aging. In India, the company offers few clinical diagnostics tests including Natera’s Panorama non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT), which is used by major hospitals to screen for genetic and chromosomal abnormalities during pregnancy.
“The convergence of sequencing technologies, computational power and algorithms, and other genomics advancements brings personalized medicine closer than ever to a cost-effective reality – and along with it the promise of enormous improvements in drug discovery, diagnostics, and treatment of patients,” said MedGenome’s CEO Sam Santhosh. “By tapping the genetic power of India, we are able to further advance these critical patients’ needs and, in doing so, significantly improve the health of global populations.”
MedGenome’s previous, Series A funding round, was led by Emerge Ventures in June 2014. With the conclusion of Series B funding, Abhay Pandey of Sequoia Capital will join the company’s board of directors, which already includes Sam Santhosh, Mahesh Pratapneni of Emerge Ventures and Dhiraj Rajaram of Mu Sigma.