Adela Announces $48 Million in Financing and Leadership Addition to Advance Tissue-Agnostic Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) Monitoring Product Portfolio Based on Genome-Wide Methylome Approach

Investors include F-Prime Capital, OrbiMed, Deerfield Management, Decheng Capital, Labcorp and RA Capital Management

Proceeds from this financing will be used to advance Adela's technology platform and commercialize Adela's first product for MRD monitoring, while further developing a multi-cancer early detection (MCED) product

Lisa Alderson – seasoned CEO and healthcare innovator - appointed as Interim CEO of Adela

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Sept. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Adela, Inc., an innovator in blood testing for minimal residual disease monitoring and early cancer detection through a genome-wide methylome approach, announced today the closing of $48 million in financing. In addition, the company announced that Lisa Alderson will join Adela as interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), succeeding Dr. Scott Bratman. Dr. Bratman will continue to serve as a member of Adela's Board of Directors and as President.

This $48 million financing includes existing investors F-Prime Capital, OrbiMed, Deerfield Management, Decheng Capital, and RA Capital Management, as well as new investor Labcorp, a global leader of innovative and comprehensive laboratory services. It brings the total capital raised to date to $108 million.

The proceeds from the financing will be used to advance Adela's technology platform and commercialize Adela's first product for MRD monitoring. Adela's tissue-agnostic MRD monitoring product is based on its genome-wide methylome enrichment platform, which efficiently captures extensive, biologically-relevant genomic information to maximize test performance and improve treatment decisions. The proceeds will also be used to continue development of the company's multi-cancer early detection (MCED) product, based on the same platform. Adela's platform was originally developed by Adela's Chief Scientific Officer, Daniel De Carvalho, Ph.D., at University Health Network's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, in collaboration with investigators at Sinai Health System.

"Adela's genome-wide platform expands the potential opportunity for MRD testing through a novel methylome approach," said Shakti Ramkissoon, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President and Head of Medicine for Oncology at Labcorp. "Bringing this highly differentiated offering to market means oncologists and patients will have a better understanding of MRD and how it impacts patients with cancer. Additionally, Adela's work on multi-cancer early detection is exciting and has the potential to revolutionize the way early-stage cancer is detected."

Lisa Alderson has been named Adela's interim Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Alderson, a seasoned leader and operator who brings over 20 years of experience building early-stage companies at the intersection of technology and healthcare, has served on Adela's Board of Directors since early 2022.

"We are excited to grow Adela to the next level with this new financing and the addition of Ms. Alderson's expertise in commercializing healthcare products and scaling companies for growth," said David Scheer, Chairman of Adela's Board of Directors. "We look forward to bringing Adela's MRD offering to market so that it can benefit patients". 

Ms. Alderson previously co-founded and served as the CEO of Genome Medical, the leading genomic care delivery company enabling broad-based access to genomic medicine. In addition, she served as the Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer of Invitae, and was also part of the start-up team at Genomic Health.

"During my tenure on the Board of Directors of Adela, I have been highly impressed with the talent, dedication, and passion of the Adela team, as well as with the unique ability of its genome-wide methylome enrichment platform to access expansive biological information cost-efficiently," said Lisa Alderson, Interim CEO, Adela. "This round of financing enables us to prepare operationally to commercialize products that hold the potential to improve care for millions of people with cancer".

About Adela

Adela is developing best-in-class technology to accelerate the diagnosis and improve the management of cancer through blood tests for minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring and multi-cancer early detection (MCED). Adela's genome-wide methylome enrichment platform efficiently captures extensive, biologically-relevant genomic information to maximize test performance and improve treatment decisions. The company's platform specifically isolates the information-rich (methylated) regions of the genome through a high-affinity enrichment process, enabling it to capture and preserve more genomic material for sequencing compared to other platforms that use enzymatic or chemical treatment (bisulfite conversion). This comprehensive view of the methylome significantly increases the opportunities for Adela's products to detect cancer signals in the blood compared to approaches that target a smaller set of genomic regions. It also enables enhanced prognostic and predictive abilities, as well as dynamic monitoring in patients over time. Adela's approach to MRD testing is tissue agnostic, eliminating the burden of acquiring a tumor sample. Adela's investors are F-Prime Capital, OrbiMed, Deerfield Management, Decheng Capital, Labcorp and RA Capital Management. Find more information at adelabio.com.

SOURCE Adela