Clinical studies cost big pharma companies roughly 15% of their yearly sales, with one experiment costing up to $500M and frequently involving thousands of patients before a new treatment can be approved for market. Add to that, the fact that 70% of clinical research takes place at the same 5% of facilities, and only 5% of patients engage in clinical trials.
This lack of patient access can result in trial delays, driving up costs and stifling medical innovation and patient diversity.
To improve that, Paris-based Inato, a platform that makes clinical trials more accessible, has raised $20M in a Series A2 round of funding.
The fundraise comprises return and lead investor Cathay Innovation, return investor Obvious Ventures, and new investors La Maison and Top Harvest Capital.
The new capital will support the company’s continuous product innovation, international expansion, and recruiting of top talent.
Expansion of product offering
The French firm will also expand its diversity product offering to help sponsors accomplish their diversity targets in light of new FDA regulations.
In order to improve access to care, the company will also invest in oncology-specific innovation.
“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 of who they are or where they live,” said Inato Co-Founder and CEO Kourosh Davarpanah. “This also enables sponsors to partner with a broader range of verified community research sites, decreasing competition, accelerating site activation, and increasing patient access.”
“Our repeat investment in Inato represents our strong conviction in the company’s mission, team, and continued success as an emerging leader and pioneer when it comes to changing the status quo in clinical trial diversity and access,” said Jean-François Cochy, partner at Cathay Innovation. “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.”
“At Obvious, we support entrepreneurs solving humanity’s biggest challenges — and Inato is doing just that,” said Rohan Ganesh, partner at Obvious Ventures. “Inato is playing a critical role in enabling clinical research to keep pace with patient diversity and inclusion, along with being really technologically innovative.”
Inato, which was founded in 2020, makes clinical trials more accessible, inclusive, and efficient for patients, community-based clinical researchers, and pharmaceutical corporations worldwide.
The platform connects multinational pharmaceutical corporations with a larger network of community research sites, making it easier to match the correct trial to the right patient.
Since its debut, the startup has swiftly established itself as a trusted two-sided platform, with over 2,500 community research sites supporting more than 70 disease categories in more than 60 countries.
To date, the company has forged alliances with one-third of the top 30 pharmaceutical companies in order to make medical research more accessible, inclusive, and efficient.
Cathay Innovation is a global venture funding business founded by Cathay Capital. It makes startup investments in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
A multi-stage fund with over $2B in assets under management, it collaborates with visionary entrepreneurs and firms that are positively influencing the world through technology.
