• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

African genomics startup 54gene raises $25M to expand precision medicine capabilities

September 16, 2021 by David Barret Leave a Comment

Less than 3% of genetic material used in global pharmaceutical research is from Africa. The staggering gap is quite surprising because Africans and people of African descent are reported to be more genetically diverse than any other population.

Since launching in 2019, African genomics startup 54gene has been at the forefront of bridging this divide in the global genomics market. Today, the company has secured $25 million in Series B funding to bolster its efforts.

This round comes a year after the company, founded by Dr Abasi Ene-Obong, raised $15 million in Series A and two years after closing a $4.5 million seed round.

In total, 54gene has raised more than $45 million since its inception.

With the world’s analyzed genomes coming mostly from anywhere that isn’t Africa, the continent remains a valuable source of new genetic information for health and drug discovery research.

This is where 54gene’s work is relevant. The company conducts and leverages this research to ensure Africans are recipients of upcoming drug and medical discoveries.

Last year when we covered the company last year, CEO Ene-Obong disclosed that for 54gene to conduct this research, it recruits voluntary participants who donate genetic samples via swab or blood tests.

It still very much works this way. However, instead of depending on third-party health centres like hospitals and sending the samples abroad for analysis, 54gene launched its own genetics sequencing and microarray lab in Lagos last September. The company did this in partnership with U.S.-based biotech company Illumina.

Speaking with TechCrunch, Ene-Obong says in addition to the genotyping capabilities offered, the lab also provides whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and whole-exome sequencing (WES).

Not to bore you with the jargon but here’s why this is important. Genotyping tends to show only 0.02% of an individual’s DNA; however, WGS can show almost 100% of the same person’s DNA.

For WES, although it represents only 1.5% of the human genome, it shows approximately 85% of known disease-related variants.

With these three in place, the company can advance genomics research and expand its ability to help scientists and researchers in Africa.

Unlike fintech and other fast-moving sectors like e-commerce, innovation in healthtech takes some time to take shape finally. 54gene is one of the few startups in the sector and even in Africa to have moved from seed stage to Series B in under two years.

It’s this sort of frightening speed that makes one wonder what the company is doing right. So I ask the CEO whether the company is indeed seeing significant progress in advancing African genomics; he answers in the affirmative.

“Though the arc of conducting early research through drug approval can be long in biotech, we have taken the approach to building the backbone that is needed for short-term successes to long-term gains that provide better healthcare delivery and treatment outcomes from diseases,” he added.

In addition to setting its first lab, the CEO says the company increasing its biobanking capacity by 5x and is counts that as a major success.

During its last raise, 54gene had a biobank capacity for 60,000 samples. If Ene-Obong comments are anything to go by, the two-year-old company currently has a biobank with over 300,000 samples, close to its longer-term aim to manage up to 500,000.

Another one is the recruitment and training of talent to generate and process data needed to produce insights for the company’s drug discovery efforts.

Nigeria has a dearth of experienced clinicians and with the remaining few leaving in droves, it is not hard to see why it is a win for the company. Knowing this, 54gene plans to use part of the new funding to recruit and train more professionals. 

Other use of funding will expand its capabilities in sequencing, target identification and validation, and precision medicine clinical trials. Also of great importance is its expansion across the African continent.

To aid this expansion, 54gene will have to carry out partnerships. A recent one occurred between the company and the Tanzania Human Genetics Organization and Ene-Obong says 54gene is in varying stages of conversations with more partners. However, he was tight-lipped on who they might be.

“We are excited about our Africa-first approach which will see us expand to countries within East and West Africa in the coming year,” he added.

54gene made some hires to this end: Michelle Ephraim, Colm O’Dushlaine, Peter Fekkes, Teresia Bost, Jude Uzonwanne — all of who have decades of experience working with companies like Leica Biosystems, Regeneron Genetic Center, Novartis, Celgene, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund led this round. Lead investor from the company’s Series A funding, Adjuvant Capital also invested in the round, including KdT Ventures, Plexo Capital, Endeavor Capital, and Ingressive Capital.

African genomics startup 54gene raises $15M led by Adjuvant Capital

Source Link African genomics startup 54gene raises $25M to expand precision medicine capabilities

David Barret
David Barret

Related posts:

  1. Rally marks 1,000 days since China detained two Canadians amid Huawei dispute
  2. Tennis-Sabalenka defeats Mertens in straight sets in U.S. Open fourth round
  3. China’s export, import growth likely eased in Aug on COVID-19 cases, supply bottlenecks: Reuters poll
  4. Piaggio, KTM, Honda and Yamaha set up swappable batteries consortium

Filed Under: News

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Watch As Stadium-Sized Asteroid, Largest Of 5, Flies By Earth
  • Deleting “Mitch” Protein From Cells Could Make Humans “Immune” To Obesity
  • Antarctic Glacier Has Been Spotted Committing “Ice Piracy” On Its Neighbor
  • Bat Virus Evolution Suggests COVID-19 Virus Emerged Naturally, Spreading To Humans Through Wildlife Trade
  • Heart Attack Vs Cardiac Arrest: What’s The Difference?
  • Musk Outlines The Questionable Reason He Wants To Get To Mars So Badly, NASA Astronaut Responds
  • In 1972 The Soviets Launched A Spacecraft Bound For Venus. In The Next Few Days, It Will Return To Earth
  • Sounds From Inside A Star Reveal Unexpected Properties Of An Aging Orange Dwarf
  • Hear An Elephant Reunion Spark Sounds Even Keepers Had Not Heard Before
  • Why Do Elevators Have Mirrors Inside Them?
  • Cuttlefish Communicate With Arm Waving And Can Sense The Ripples With Their Bodies
  • First Ever Fatal Bear Attack In Florida Leads To The Deaths Of 3 Black Bears
  • Pathogenic Fungal Spores Found Surviving Miles Above Our Heads In Earth’s Stratosphere
  • “Alchemy” In Action As CERN Detects Lead Atoms Turning Into Gold
  • When Did The Earth’s Magnetic Field Form?
  • Who Were The Mysterious “Sea Peoples”, Destroyers Of The Ancient Empires?
  • Galaxy’s Extreme Core Might Have A Whole New Source Of Ghostly Particles
  • 20 Years Of “Very Concerning” Data Concludes Cats Can Catch Bird Flu And Could Pass It To Humans
  • The Ancient Pythagorean “Cup Of Justice” Pranks Users If They Fill It With Too Much Wine
  • When It Comes To Pain, The Nocebo Effect Beats The Placebo Effect
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version