Biopharmaceutical company Ionis Pharmaceuticals has invested $10m to lead a $17m series A-2 round for US-based precision therapy developer Empirico.
The round included venture capital firms Data Collective, which invested through its DCVC Bio fund, and Neotribe. The Ionis investment was made as part of a strategic collaboration that could eventually involve up to $650m in milestone payments.
Empirico has created an algorithm-driven drug discovery platform called Precision Insights which generates information from genetics data to throw more light on the role of specific genes and proteins in disease and support the development of new drugs.
The partnership agreement will allow Ionis to advance up to 10 drug targets identified by Precision Insights while utilising the technology to integrate human genetics evidence into its existing activities.
Empirico had previously closed a $12.5m series A round in late 2018 that was co-led by DCVC Bio and Neotribe.