On September 7, 2021 Emulate, Inc., a leading provider of next generation in vitro models, reported the close of an $82 million Series E financing round led by existing investor Northpond Ventures with additional participation from Perceptive Advisors (Press release, Emulate, SEP 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234587379]). With this investment, Emulate has raised nearly $225 million to date.
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"This fundraise is a testament to the fact that Emulate organ-chips are allowing the exploration of human biology like never before," said Jim Corbett, CEO of Emulate. "Over the last year, we have bolstered our leadership team, accelerated product development goals, and seen healthy growth in demand for our products. Several leading indicators validate our belief that organ-on-a-chip technology will dramatically transform the entire drug discovery and development pipeline and ultimately eliminate unnecessary animal testing."
Emulate develops and manufactures next-generation in vitro models that enable researchers to replicate and study human biology and disease, helping them understand and predict drug response with greater precision and detail than possible with conventional cell culture or animal-based methods. Organ-on-a-chip technology by Emulate provides flexible microenvironments containing tiny hollow channels lined with living cells and tissues that can be subjected to mechanical forces that mirror breathing or digestion in the human body. The technology is used by leading academic researchers, government entities, and many of the largest pharmaceutical companies to better understand the biology of human disease.
"We believe Emulate’s transformative technology is poised to accelerate innovation in the drug discovery and development process," said Sharon Kedar, CFA, Co-Founder and Partner at Northpond Ventures. "Our ongoing investment in Emulate reflects our confidence that organ-on-a-chip technology will be a key solution for preclinical testing of therapeutic compounds."
The funds raised through the Series E financing round will support a significant scale-up in research and development activities to facilitate the creation of new human-relevant organ-on-a-chip models in immunology, neuroinflammation, tumor modeling, and more. To help meet growing global demand, Emulate is extending operations in the Asia Pacific region with two new distributors.
"With biomedical research and pharmaceutical industries focused on leveraging the human immune system in the development of new biologic medicines, immunotherapies, and vaccines, human-relevant modeling methods are clearly essential to the success of development programs designed to improve human health," said Sam Chawla, Portfolio Manager at Perceptive. "The rapid growth in the adoption of Emulate organ-chip technology is a testament to the value they can provide to researchers seeking to understand the mechanisms of disease and treatment options."
Recently in the United States, the FDA Modernization Act and the Humane Research Act have been introduced in Congress calling on the support for alternatives to animal testing, citing scientific inadequacies and ethical concerns associated with animal models.