Seattle startup Phase Genomics will develop its platform to detect chromosomal aberrations in cancer with $2.5 million in new funding.
The project is fueled with a $2 million small business award from the U.S. National Cancer Institute and $500,000 in matching funds from Washington state’s Andy Hill CARE Fund.
The state is authorized to match up to $10 million annually to fund cancer research through the fund, launched in memory of state senator Andy Hill, a champion of cancer research. In June 2022, the state legislature authorized an additional $30 million special investment into the fund.
On Monday, the Andy Hill Fund announced the latest tranche of awards in the category of “Breakthrough Seed Funding,” designed for projects with high risk but the potential for high reward. The state awarded more than $2 million in total in this category to state research institutions and Phase Genomics.
Phase Genomics specializes in analyzing how DNA is organized in three dimensions within a cell, using a method called proximity ligation. The method can pick up chromosomal abnormalities such as deletions or duplications, common in tumors. Phase will use the new funds to advance its OncoTerra 3D genomics platform, which can detect chromosomal abnormalities in cancer.
The company will analyze tumor samples and crunch the data to develop an AI-based model that delivers a predictive score, which it calls ChAOS (Chromosomal Aberration in Oncology Score). The NCI funding will support a project analyzing 500 stored tumor samples from patients with acute myeloid leukemia, and the Andy Hill funding will support a project analyzing colorectal tumor samples, with a focus on underserved populations in the Pacific Northwest.
The approach has the potential to assess patient risk with “added predictive power” over current approaches, said Phase Genomics CEO Ivan Liachko in a statement announcing the awards.
Other projects funded in the “Breakthrough Seed Funding” category include a University of Washington project to develop small molecules to treat advanced prostate cancer and a project at the Institute for Systems biology to assess the tumor-immune microenvironment.
The new projects build on more than $30 million in Andy Hill research awards announced earlier in the year to Washington biotech companies and institutions. Startup recipients include Deverra Therapeutics, Kayothera, Proteios Technology, Sigma Genetics, Sygnomics Talus Bioscience, and microscopy startup AlpenGlow Biosciences, which will create 3D-spatial biology images of cancer biopsies using AI to analyze the data.
