Known Medicine

Founded in 2020, US-based Known Medicine is aiming to help oncologists select the best treatment for cancer patients by providing new insights into how patients’ cells will respond to different treatments.

The company is an extension of Co-Founder Andrea Mazzocchi’s research at Wake Forest University, where she recently completed a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering.

The company takes patient cancer samples and uses them to create small tumors. These micro-tumors are then given everything they need to behave the way they would in a patient’s body, including using immune and scaffolding cells from the cancer patient. Each sample is then given different treatment combinations to see what that tumor is most sensitive to.

The company analyzes the results by looking at how many cancer cells died in addition to using machine learning to look for phenotypic indicators of real patient sensitivity, many of which are not clear by eye.

Innovation: Custom organoid platform that utilizes novel bioengineering methods to help identify the best personalized cancer treatments.

Stage: Early stage, with initial focus on working with partners and doctors from various research institutions to validate the company’s approach and technology.

The company is primarily focused on providing a new tool for physicians to make the best decision on cancer treatment but also sees potential in collecting data to eventually be used in drug discovery.

Known Medicine is a graduate of startup accelerator Y Combinator, and has raised Seed capital from Khosla Ventures, Cota Capital, among others.

Subscribe for alerts on new companies featured on Startups.Bio

Tags: