OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dascena, Inc., a machine learning diagnostic algorithm company that is targeting early disease intervention to improve patient care outcomes, announced today that it closed a $50 million Series B financing led by Frazier Healthcare Partners with participation from Longitude Capital, existing investor Euclidean Capital and an undisclosed investor.
“At Dascena, we believe in the power of machine learning to improve patient care and outcomes, and we continue to develop algorithms to do just that,” said Ritankar Das, founder and chief executive officer of Dascena. “Machine learning is transforming how we solve problems across industries, and by applying this technology to healthcare, we will enhance the quality and efficiency of patient care. Our flagship sepsis algorithm, InSight®, has produced significant decreases in mortality and hospital length of stay among patients with sepsis. In U.S. hospitals, over a quarter million patients die of sepsis each year. We believe that our InSight® algorithm can have a substantial impact in this arena.”
Diagnostic Algorithm Engine
The Series B financing will enable Dascena to advance a suite of machine learning algorithms to inform patient care strategies and improve outcomes. Dascena algorithms have been validated through eighteen peer-reviewed publications in several studies funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
In a randomized controlled trial of hospitalized patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), Dascena’s InSight® algorithm resulted in a 58% reduction in patient mortality and a 21% reduction in length of hospital stay. Data from this prospective study of InSight® were published in the BMJ Open Respiratory Research (link) in 2017. In addition, as published in the BMJ today, Dascena validated the performance of InSight® in a larger real-world outcomes study in both ICU and other hospitalized and emergency department patients.
“We view the InSight® sepsis product as just scratching the surface of how machine learning can improve patient care, and Dascena is committed to continued innovation for the benefit of patients,” added Mr. Das.
“Sepsis kills an American every two minutes, and early detection and treatment are critical to patient survival,” said Matthew Fine, M.D., chief medical officer of Oroville Hospital. “To combat this deadly condition, we have used Dascena’s sepsis prediction technology over the past two years and have found it very helpful for the care of our patients.”
About Dascena
Dascena develops machine learning algorithms to enable early disease intervention and improve care outcomes for patients. For more information, visit Dascena.com.
About Frazier Healthcare Partners
Founded in 1991, Frazier Healthcare Partners is a leading provider of growth and venture capital to healthcare companies. With nearly $4.8 billion total capital raised, Frazier has invested in over 200 companies, with investment types ranging from company creation and venture capital to buyouts of profitable lower-middle market companies. The firm’s Growth Buyout team invests in healthcare and pharmaceutical services, medical products and related sectors. The Life Sciences team invests in therapeutics and related areas that are addressing unmet medical needs through innovation. Frazier has offices in Seattle, WA, and Menlo Park, CA, and invests broadly across the U.S., Canada and Europe.
For more information about Frazier Healthcare Partners, visit the company's website at www.frazierhealthcare.com.
About Longitude Capital
Longitude Capital is a private investment firm that makes venture growth investments in biotechnology, medical technology and health solutions companies that seek to improve clinical outcomes, enhance quality of life and/or reduce system costs. Longitude Capital invests in both privately held and publicly traded life science companies through a variety of investment approaches. Longitude Capital has offices in Menlo Park, CA, Greenwich, CT and Boston, MA. For more information, please visit www.longitudecapital.com.
