Insider Brief
- Valar Labs raised $22 million in Series A funding, co-led by DCVC and a16z, to advance precision oncology using AI.
- The company developed an AI test for bladder cancer, improving treatment predictions and outcomes, with plans to expand to other cancer types.
- Valar Labs aims to enhance cancer treatment decisions, providing personalized care and increasing access to precision medicine globally.
PRESS RELEASE — Palo Alto, CA/May 22, 2024 — Valar Labs is thrilled to announce that DCVC and a16z have co-led a $22 million Series A to accelerate the next generation of precision oncology. Vineeta Agarwala and James Hardiman will be joining the board, and the company is humbled by their enthusiasm to bring AI into practical clinical implementation to empower physicians making critical treatment decisions in cancer. This round also saw strong participation from existing investors a16z and Pear VC, who have continued to support the company since its inception.
James Hardiman, general partner at DCVC, stated, “We see Valar as a leader in an emerging group of TechMed startups that harness AI and the power of data to augment physicians’ capabilities. Histology has always been one of the keys to diagnosing cancer, but Valar Labs is showing that there are unexpected depths in the digital slides pathologists review every day. And bladder cancer is only the beginning: we can’t wait to see where they take the technology next.”
The next generation of precision oncology is here. Valar Labs was founded to reduce uncertainty in cancer treatment decisions. Every day, oncologists face challenging decisions for millions of cancer patients to determine which treatment pathway is most likely to be effective. Valar Labs aims to provide every oncologist and cancer patient around the world with diagnostics that can help inform these critical decisions.
The history of precision oncology has been marked by inflection points, each bringing new modalities of data to drive decision-making and gain insight into cancer biology. These modalities have improved patient experiences and increased the number of patients for whom actionable diagnostic information is available. Starting with sequencing solid tumors, progressing to liquid biopsies, and now entering the digital and AI generation of precision oncology, Valar Labs is pioneering a new category of diagnostic testing where pathology paired with AI yields unprecedented insight into clinical outcomes and treatment response. This generation will lead to a significant increase in informed clinical decisions and expand precision medicine access to millions more patients.
Dr. Eric Collisson from Fred Hutch Cancer Center remarked, “When I can make a statement about one treatment being more likely to succeed than another, that’s a whole different level of conversation than I’ve been able to have with patients up to now.”
Valar Labs has developed a first-of-its-kind AI test in bladder cancer, with more tests coming. Over the past few years, they have demonstrated that quantitative AI analysis of H&E stained tumor histology slides can prognosticate outcomes and predict response to treatment. They have assembled a cohort of over 1000 patients with bladder cancer across four continents and published their analysis showing that the Vesta assay can identify patients who would have more aggressive disease progression under standard care treatment regimens and who could benefit from other earlier interventions. Vesta is the first-ever AI-based oncology test to be clinically offered in this disease, and Valar Labs is excited about its potential impact. The approach also generalizes to several other tumor types, such as pancreatic cancer, demonstrated through multiple publications and presentations at national oncology conferences.
Dr. Jay Shah from Stanford Healthcare commented, “The introduction of Vesta is a paradigm shift for how we can best serve our bladder cancer patients. Its ability to predict response to BCG treatment is invaluable particularly amidst the current nationwide BCG shortage. This ensures every patient receives personalized and highly effective treatment.”
Valar Labs aims to make significant advances in both therapeutics and diagnostics to turn cancer into a less lethal disease. While new therapies may take several years to enter the market, existing therapies can materially improve patient outcomes if directed appropriately. The company is working to achieve this across the many oncology treatment decisions that exist today across dozens of cancer types affecting patients worldwide.
Vineeta Agarwala, MD, PhD, general partner at a16z Bio + Health, stated, “Valar Labs could transform how we approach cancer treatment decisions for a large number of patients today. By combining readily available tissue histology images with AI-driven insights, Valar is enabling physicians to deliver the precision oncology care that every patient deserves: matching the right treatment, to the right patient, at the right time.”
Valar Labs invites everyone to join them on this mission, which is one of the most important challenges in medicine today.
