GE Healthcare and Sophia Genetics SA partnered to develop new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered analytics and workflow solutions to improve patient matching with cancer therapies.

TORONTO – An initial investment of $250,000 by MCI Onehealth Technologies Inc. could just be the beginning for Ariel Precision Medicine Inc. and an artificial intelligence-fueled platform that uses genetic and clinical data to identify early symptoms of chronic disease.

Caris Life Sciences Inc. raised $830 million in a capital growth round led by Sixth Street Partners, the latest show of private investors’ zeal for backing precision medicine ventures. The infusion, which includes $235 million in equity financing, will be used for continued commercial expansion and to advance its liquid biopsy platform. T.R. Price Associates Inc., Silver Lake, Fidelity Management & Research Co. LLC were significant contributors in the round.

LONDON – Med-tech investor Endeavour Vision reported the final close of its Medtech Growth II fund at $375 million. The fund will invest in commercial stage companies with products that advance the standard of care or bring efficiencies to how health care systems operate. That strategy is expected to result in two-thirds of the money going into device companies and the remainder to digital health specialists.

Agilent Technologies Inc. will acquire Resolution Bioscience Inc. for $550 million in cash at closing and up to an additional $145 million based on performance milestones. The deal will expand Agilent’s cancer diagnostics offerings and its presence in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology for the fast-growing precision medicine market. The acquisition is expected to close in April 2021.

Twenty years to the month after the completion of the draft sequence of the human genome, the Human Genome Project and follow-on projects like The Cancer Genome Atlas are underpinning advances in precision medicine.

Mckesson Corp. has brought together several oncology organizations, life sciences companies, and patient advocacy groups to increase understanding of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and leverage targeted therapies to improve outcomes. The Molecularly Informed Lung Cancer Treatment in a Community Cancer Network: A Pragmatic Consortium (MYLUNG) study will observe and analyze 12,000 community-based, metastatic NSCLC patients to learn more about barriers to molecular testing for targeted therapies, how those therapies are being used, and to expand opportunities for participation in clinical trials.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cell capture startup Deepcell Inc. scooped up $20 million in a series A round led by Bow Capital. The funds are earmarked for developing the company’s microfluidics-based technology, building out a cell morphology atlas of more than 400 million cells and advancing a hypothesis-free approach to cell classification and sorting.

The Lung Cancer Genomic Screening Project for Individualized Medicine in Asia (LC-SCRUM-Asia) has partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. to speed molecular profiling in two major studies. The project now uses Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher’s Ion Torrent Genexus system and Oncomine Precision assay as the sole system for conducting next-generation sequencing (NGS) to improve personalization of therapeutic approaches and better understand drug resistance in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLS).