Coherence Neuro, a startup making implants designed to fight brain cancer, recently raised $45 million in a Series A funding round. The round was co-led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and the OpenAI Startup Fund. Other notable participants included Lux Capital, Olive Capital and 8VC.
In a post, Coherence explained that the funds collected would enable the firm to conduct their first chronic human trial to test their implant as a treatment option for glioblastoma. The firm will also seek FDA designation of the implant as a breakthrough device. The company added that they would expand their tests to other conditions, such as pancreatic cancer as well as other malignancies.
To attain their objectives, the company is looking to beef up their multi-disciplinary team of operators and builders.
Coherence was founded in 2022 by Elise Jenkins and Ben Woodington. It focuses on leveraging technology and neuroscience to change how cancer is treated. Their leading product is SOMA, an implant that is the size of a button. This implant monitors the electrical signals emitted by cancerous cells and it emits electrical signals to disrupt the tumor’s development.
This implant is used together with a removable wearable that is placed just above the ear, and these two components interface with an app that tracks symptoms, provides the therapy history of a patient and provides additional patient data in real time.
The company is currently focused on testing how this implant can help in treating glioblastoma, a very aggressive brain cancer whose victim list includes prominent people like Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator John McCain. Several consenting patients have had the device implanted within their brains while they undergo surgery to remove glioblastoma tumors. These initial tests are to establish how safe the implants are.
The implant was designed based on previous research that found that tumors have unique electrical signals and fields. By disrupting this electrical activity, the researchers posited, cancer development could be arrested before it becomes advanced. Coherence is looking to use these study findings to develop and eventually commercialize their implant as a way to change the way cancer can be treated.
If their tests succeed, the implants could become available and the grim prognosis that glioblastoma patients face upon diagnosis could change for the better. As the startup progresses with its R&D programs, other entities like CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are also working to develop novel medications indicated for patients with different types of brain cancer, such as glioblastoma.
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