Exact Sciences Corp., the Madison-based maker of the Cologuard colon cancer take-home test, has increased its investment in a Cambridge, Massachusetts, startup developing a blood test to better detect early cancer.
Thrive Earlier Detection Corp. recently raised $257 million in new financing, which was backed by at least 11 new investors, including Bain Capital Life Sciences, alongside existing investors like Exact Sciences (Nasdaq: EXAS).
Exact Sciences initially invested in Thrive in early 2019, when the company launched with $110 million in Series A funding, which was one of the biggest Series A rounds at the time (a list that is currently topped by Sana Biotechnology and EQRx).
The investment amount by Exact Sciences for both rounds of funding were not disclosed.
At the time of its launch, Thrive had already begun its first clinical trial: a 10,000-subject study assessing how well its blood test, known as CancerSEEK, could detect pieces of tumor DNA and proteins associated with different types of cancers.
Using the diagnostic tool alongside standard technology like a PET or CT scan proved 99.6% effective at detecting tumors in 10 different organs, Thrive reported in April. The majority of the 96 cancer cases CancerSEEK helped identify were in the early stages, according to the company. Read the full story here.
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