2020 will remain forever etched in our memories as a year marred by tragedy on a global scale. But amidst all of the sadness and anger, the pain and the loss, one thing came to the forefront that should never be forgotten: when put to the test against all odds, today’s scientists can come together to accomplish the seemingly impossible.
Speaking for the entire Mission Bio family, I would like to express our gratitude to the researchers who worked tirelessly throughout the year to help bring this unprecedented pandemic closer to its end. As we stand at the precipice of 2021, with the first vaccines already in use and more candidates on the way, we’re absolutely in awe of what has been accomplished through their efforts.
A Healthier Future
Despite the understandable shift in focus to COVID-19 for many life sciences organizations, our customers have done some amazing things of their own this year. Researchers at Stanford used the Tapestri Platform to identify and characterize relapse-driving cells in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patients, a crucial step forward in detecting disease remaining after treatment.
The team at MD Anderson Cancer Center provided an important milestone: the first peer-reviewed publication to demonstrate the single-cell multi-omics capabilities of the Tapestri Platform. Published in Nature Communications, their study established a single-cell genomics atlas of AML samples, providing previously undiscovered insight into disease evolution and treatment resistance.
That was followed in short order by a peer-reviewed study in Nature showcasing the power of the Tapestri Platform to characterize the relationship between disease evolution and clonality in myeloid malignancies, including AML. Led by Dr. Ross Levine, scientists at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center were able to correlate genotype and immunophenotype with single-cell resolution, formulating a holistic view of clonality that can pave the way for better treatments for complex diseases.
Getting to Tomorrow Faster
This fall, we made a significant addition to our Tapestri Platform by launching the Single-cell Multi-omics Solution, the most comprehensive single-cell multi-omics platform on the market. Along with the addition of CRISPR applications to Tapestri Designer earlier in the year, we gave scientists additional tools to accelerate time to market for new treatments and therapeutics while minimizing wasted time and money.
While we continue to grow the capabilities of our Tapestri Platform, Mission Bio remains firmly committed to accelerating the development of cancer therapies today and helping our customers eliminate cancer in the future. To help us continue to support our mission, we raised $70 million in Series C funding in 2020 from Novo Growth and Soleus Capital, as well as earlier investors Mayfield, Cota, and Agilent.
In addition to unlocking new insights in oncology, the Tapestri Platform is now actively in use to advance clinical trials for new pharmaceuticals and innovative cell and gene therapies. With new breakthroughs around every corner, we’re excited to see what our customers can bring to the world in 2021. We thank you for all that you’ve done, and look forward to connecting with you again (albeit virtually) in the new year.
