Start-up will fine-tune AI models for diagnostics and biomarker discovery
The Berlin-based start-up Lucid Genomics, a spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics and the Institute of Medical Genetics and Human Genetics at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, has raised €1.3 million in pre-seed funding in a funding round led by Caesar Ventures, with support from BIF Partners, another.vc and the MPF Accelerator. The funds will be used to further expand their AI-Digital HealthTech Platform, which extracts all genomic information to improve diagnostics and drug discovery.
Uirá Souto Melo (CEO) and Hossein Moeinzadeh (CTO), founders of Lucid Genomics, are building their business on cutting-edge research conducted by Martin Vingron, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, and Stefan Mundlos, Director of the Institute of Medical Genetics and Human Genetics at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and group leader at the Max Planck Institute. With the institutes' scientific expertise, they were able to create a B2B Software-as-a-Service platform that offers 100 percent DNA analysis solutions to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Lucid Genomics were granted an exclusive license to commercialize the software by the Max Planck Society and Charité.
AI technology scans human genome for patterns
Whole genome sequencing is a very promising breakthrough in areas involving precision medicine, gene editing, and pharmacogenomics. However, existing analysis approaches only look at two percent of the genomic information, ignoring the "dark-genome", technically known as non-coding parts of the DNA. To analyze 100 percent of genome datasets at scale, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning algorithms capable of finding and decoding patterns in human DNA are needed.
Based on several years of experience with DNA sequencing technology, the team of Lucid Genomics developed machine learning methods that greatly improve genetic variant detection, outperform existing methods, and prioritize coding and non-coding variations. In addition, the researchers have leveraged their knowledge of the "dark-genome" to develop a framework for interpreting any genetic mutation, regardless of its location in the genome. Lucid Genomics is merging these features to create a single product for its customers. With successfully closing the funding round they have now achieved the next important step in the development of their solution.
Support from Max Planck Innovation
"We would like to congratulate Lucid Genomics on this important milestone in the foundation of their company. This is a perfect example of how basic research results from the Max Planck Society can lead to truly innovative products in the market. As Max Planck Innovation, we are incredibly proud and grateful that we were able to support the team in the development of their start-up through our coaching, incubation program and by successfully licensing the software in a suitable form for commercialisation," says Bram Wijlands, Managing Director of Max Planck Innovation. "Lucid Genomics is also the first start-up that took part in the MAX!mize incubation program to raise venture capital. We are confident that this entrepreneurial team is going to create a big impact by bringing extraordinary research into the market for better patient care and accelerated drug developments."
Identification of genetic mutations
Lucid Genomics will use the funding to expand its Digital HealthTech Platform and improve genetic mutation identification through the complete analysis of the genome, increasing the outcomes they have achieved thus far. The initial stage in approaching the market will be rare genetic diseases, followed by cancer diagnostics and other related sectors. "Our expertise lies in the combination of three things - new DNA sequencing technologies, advances in Artificial Intelligence in the field of genomics and the knowledge about the dark genome. This combination is the reason we were able to build Lucid Genomics", says the team.
