Orakl Oncology, a French precision oncology startup, has snapped €11 million in seed funding. The round was led by Singular (which recently invested in Prelude and Basecamp Research), with support from Bpifrance (which recently backed Gamestream and Aqemia), including the prestigious Grand Prix i-Lab, and existing investors.
This investment follows the €3 million pre-seed funding raised last year. With the latest investment, the total capital raised by the startup accounts for €15 million.
This funding will be used to accelerate the company’s growth and support the launch of two new commercial products, O-Predict and O-Validate designed to transform the landscape of oncology drug development.
What challenge does it tackle?
The oncology drug development process is riddled with challenges, including high attrition rates and poor predictability of clinical trial outcomes. The majority of drugs fail in clinical trials due to inaccurate and disjointed decisions made from heterogeneous data and models that do not translate well in humans. To solve this challenge, Orakl has developed a first-in-class, AI-powered techbio platform that combines real-world patient data with cutting-edge biology into a unique and integrated decision-making engine for the entire drug development process.
Who Is behind Orakl Oncology?
Statistics show that only 4% of oncology drug candidates make it to patients, primarily due to inaccurate and fragmented decisions based on heterogeneous and poorly predictive data. The Gustave Roussy Institute, already at the forefront of precision medicine, provided the ideal environment to incubate a solution.
Founded in 2023, Orakl is the brainchild of Dr. Fanny Jaulin, Dr. Diane-Laure Pagès, and Dr. Gustave Ronteix. The company emerged as a spin-off from the Gustave Roussy Institute, Europe’s leading cancer research center and a global pioneer in precision medicine. With their deep expertise in oncology, biology, and AI, the founders embarked on a mission to solve one of the biggest challenges in cancer treatment, bringing more effective drugs to patients faster.
In addition to the investment, Orakl has appointed Jessica Atkinson as Business Advisor. As a business expert with extensive experience at Merck and Foundation Medicine, she will develop and execute a strategic approach to drive Orakl’s entry into the clinical oncology market. In addition, Orakl is building a dedicated business team to support its new commercial offerings expecting to transform drug development in the era of precision oncology.
Techbio platform for precision oncology
Leveraging machine learning, advanced cell biology and AI, Orakl’s platform is powered by hundreds of individualised patient avatars that combine rich, longitudinal real-world data and sustainable tissues from the same patient to simulate real-life drug responses. Initially focusing on colorectal and pancreatic cancers, two major unmet medical needs, the company’s growing collection of patient avatars helps pharmaceutical and biotech companies predict and optimise clinical trial outcomes, discover and validate new therapeutic targets, and identify optimal drug combinations or competitive threats.
The company’s two flagship products, O-Predict and O-Validate, are designed to tackle distinct aspects of drug development:
- O-Predict forecasts patient responses to new drug candidates, offering insights into progression-free survival and comparative efficacy.
- O-Validate supports biomarker validation and provides biological evidence of causality, enabling data-driven decision-making at every stage of development.
What lies ahead for Orakl?
By targeting these aggressive cancers, the company aims to demonstrate the transformative potential of its platform while addressing urgent healthcare challenges. With its innovative technology and strong financial backing, Orakl is poised to make a significant impact on precision oncology. The company plans to build a dedicated business unit to establish strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, leveraging its AI-powered platform to redefine drug development.
By focusing on its mission to improve clinical trial success rates and accelerate the discovery of transformative cancer therapies, Orakl is set to become a leader in precision oncology, offering hope to millions of patients worldwide.
Prof. Fabrice Barlesi, General Director of Gustave Roussy, said: “As Europe’s leading cancer center and a pioneer in precision medicine, we are proud to innovate through our spin-off, Orakl, which develops ex vivo patient avatars for therapeutic decision-making and accelerates the discovery of next-generation cancer therapies.”
Jeremy Uzan, General Partner at Singular, added: “A key strength of Orakl lies in its team – a mix of deep expertise in cancer research, cell biology, and computational biology. With the recent addition of Jessica Atkinson as Business Advisor, the company is better positioned than ever to forge strategic partnerships in the pharmaceutical sector. Backed by a solid scientific foundation and a clear business focus, Orakl is set to drive meaningful progress in oncology—and we are proud to support the team on this journey.”
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