Inato raises $20 million to expand business with eye on diversity
Inato says $20 million raised in recent funding round will help it boost participation in cancer drug trials and carter for demands to make research more diverse.
The clinical trial technology firm announced plans to expand its diversity offering shortly after completing the series A2 fundraising round. It cited growing drug industry demand for technologies that aid compliance with new FDA requirements as a motivation.
The lack of diversity in clinical trials research is a major problem for sponsors and CROs according to Inato Co-Founder and CEO Kourosh Davarpanah.
“At Inato we are reversing this trend by flipping the model and empowering research-experienced community sites to access the right trials for their team and local populations — regardless
“This also enables sponsors to partner with a broader range of verified community research sites, decreasing competition, accelerating site activation, and increasing patient access.”
Backers involved in the funding round included current lead investor Cathay Innovation, return investor Obvious Ventures, as well as new investors La Maison and Top Harvest Capital.
Jean-François Cochy, a partner at Cathay Innovation, said “At Cathay, we strongly believe in supporting the emergence of global leaders in digital health, and Inato is a bright example through its adoption by hospitals in 60 countries and pharmaceutical groups from all regions.
“Inato also reflects the strength of the Cathay ecosystem with its strong collaboration with our strategic partner Sanofi.”
Oncology trials
Inato also plans to use the money to expand its presence in the cancer research sector. It specified it would invest in oncology-specific innovation to increase access to care.
“Despite the number of oncology studies increasing at almost twice the pace of any other therapeutic area, enrolment rates remain startlingly low.”
The firm also said the funds will help it define and scale its data model to continue to improve matching reliability between community sites and sponsor trials.
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