NIGERIAN GENOMICS RESEARCH startup 54gene raises $15m Series-A from Adjuvant Capital Genomics research startup 54gene in April raised a $15-million Series-A funding round led by US life sciences investment firm Adjuvant Capital, a life sciences fund backed by the International Finance Corporation, Novartis, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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This funding comes at a historically meaningful
time, allowing us to deliver global impact through continued investment in research and strategic partnerships with leaders
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in the biomedical industry,
2ND QUARTER 2020
- Dr Abasi Ene-Obong, CEO 54gene.
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THE INVESTMENT will allow the company to scale operations in support of generating novel insights from human genetics research that result in high impact discoveries for improving human health through therapeutic development. The investment will also be used to accelerate discovery capabilities by bolstering operations in genetics, bioinformatics, preclinical, clinical and commercial programmes. Other investors who participated in the round include Raba Capital, V8 Capital, and Ingressive Capital, with follow on investment from Y Combinator, Better Ventures, Fifty Years,KdT Ventures, Aera VC and Pioneer Fund. 54gene was founded in 2019 by CEO Dr Abasi EneObong with the aim of including under-represented African genomic data in research which could lead to medical breakthroughs and new healthcare solutions worldwide.
As of 2018, less than 3% of the data used in Genomewide Association Studies [GWAS] was of African ancestry and currently, less than 1% of global drug discovery occurs on the African continent. 54gene aims to improve the development, availability and efficacy of medical products that will prove beneficial to Africans and the wider global population. 54gene currently works with more than 300 researchers, clinicians and geneticists across the continent to improve the global collective knowledge of genomic determinants of health and to facilitate translational research. The company has also built an African Biobank, a stateof-the-art bio-repository which stores biological samples to provide access to aggregated, de-identified data and bio-specimen mainly for secondary use by researchers, to support both academic and development research.
