Coherence raises USD $45 million for cancer implant

Coherence has raised USD $45 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Founders Fund and The OpenAI Startup Fund.

Co-founded by an Australian, the company is developing an implantable device designed to improve cancer treatment by recording and comparing electrical biomarker signals. The funding will support the first chronic human trial of its brain-computer interface platform in glioblastoma.

Other investors included Lux Capital, 8VC, Timeless, Olive Ventures and Ahren, alongside existing backers Blackbird, Possible, Topology, Artesian, XEIA, Xtal and Divergent.

Coherence is focused on using electrical activity in tissue and the nervous system as a marker of how a tumour changes over time. Its team says it has identified an electrical biomarker of cancer based on changes in signals as a tumour grows.

By recording those signals and comparing them with healthy baselines, Coherence says it has detected anomalies in animal models that indicate whether cancer is growing, shrinking or recurring. The next step is to translate that work into human studies.

The company is also developing a device that can both monitor and treat cancer in real time. It says existing electric field therapies approved for cancers including glioblastoma and pancreatic cancer are static and do not record data, while its platform is designed to both read signals and deliver treatment.

Human testing has already begun with partners at Royal Melbourne in Australia, according to Coherence. The new funding will also support regulatory work with the US Food and Drug Administration and help expand the pipeline into other cancer indications.

Investor backing

The investor syndicate includes funds focused on artificial intelligence, biology and medical devices, as well as several angel investors. Those named by Coherence included Neuralink Head Neurosurgeon Dr Matthew MacDougall, Neuralink Principal Investigator Dr Rory Murphy, Romina Nejad, Chad Byers and Maor Shlomo.

Coherence is taking a different route from many other brain-computer interface groups, which have largely focused on neurological disorders or motor function. Instead, it is applying similar implant and signal-recording techniques to oncology.

The approach centres on creating a feedback loop in cancer care, using data from the body to assess how disease responds between scans and symptoms. Coherence argues that current monitoring methods, such as imaging and blood tests, provide only periodic snapshots.

Dr Matthew MacDougall, Head Neurosurgeon at Neuralink and Adviser at Coherence, praised the company's work.

"Coherence is working on the most exciting new therapeutic implant in the world. All humans should be hoping for their speedy success in delivering this much-needed technology to the multitude of patients with no good options today," MacDougall said.

Investors said the founding team's fit with the problem was part of the deal's appeal.

"Coherence are building a creative, novel, & rigorous way to approach cancer, which aims to be the new standard of care. At Founders Fund, we look for founders who are uniquely built for the specific problem they're solving - we believe Ben & Elise are exactly that: the perfect people to shepherd in this new technology," Bridget said.

Ian, Investor at OpenAI, also backed the company's data-driven approach.

"Coherence's approach to developing a cancer therapy capable of improving from data is incredibly innovate; we are proud to be backing them on this exciting mission," Ian said.