A start-up company that allows patients to share rare disease research health records plans to expand its project with substantial funding.
San Francisco-based AllStripes recently completed a US$50 million Series B financing led by Lux Capital. It plans to use the funds to launch 100 rare disease research projects, use its technology and expand its operations to more countries.
AllStripes was founded in 2017 by CEO Nancy Yu, who led the development of 23andMe and Onno Faber, a developer who was diagnosed with a rare disease. Their goal is to help biopharmaceutical companies learn more about these rare diseases in order to design better clinical trials.
Patients can store their records in AllStripes’ platform, including deciding which records they want to share. For example, patients may choose not to include genetic information or information related to the treatment of mental health conditions. They can also choose who to share this information with, such as new doctors, and can download their records at any time.
In order to contribute to the research, the patient must first agree. AllStripes only share de-identified data with the user’s permission. Yu wrote in an email that users can also withdraw their consent and delete from the platform at any time.
Lux Capital led the seed round shortly after the startup of this startup. Some other backers of Allstripes include McKesson Ventures, JAZZ Venture Partners, and Komodo Health CEO Arif Nathoo.
So far, the company has worked with 3,000 users. Its partners include 30 patient advocacy organizations, as well as biopharmaceutical companies and research institutions.Some of these include Novartis Pharmaceuticals, the University of Pennsylvania Orphan Disease Center, and HemoShear Therapeutics, a company that develops treatments for patients with rare metabolic disorders
For example, AllStripes has been collaborating with the Rare Disease Foundation to support research on lysosomal storage diseases, a group of inherited diseases in which enzyme deficiency inhibits the breakdown of large molecules into small molecules by lysosomes in each cell Ability. The company recruited three groups of patients with Sanfilippo syndrome, Niemann-Pick disease type C, and GM1 gangliosidosis.
For each cohort, they identified different symptoms to better characterize these diseases, understand the patient’s journey, and determine the endpoints that can be included in the trial.
“This work is the starting point for more in-depth research in each cohort,” Yu wrote in an email.
Earlier this year, AllStripes expands its research project to the UK. It hopes to further expand its footprint with new funding.
Yu said at a press conference: “Starting research on rare diseases feels like being thrown into a new world without a map. Our mission is to use data to change this situation.”
Photo Credit: Dominique Gross, Getty Images
