Presage Biosciences

Presage Biosciences, founded in 2008 as a spin-off from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is a translational oncology company focused on de-risking and accelerating cancer drug development. The company was established by Dr. Jim Olson, a pediatric oncologist who sought a better way to determine effective cancer therapies. Dr. Olson's frustration with the limitations of preclinical models in predicting human responses to treatment led to the creation of Presage. He holds an M.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has founded two other biotech companies.

The core of Presage's business is its proprietary Comparative In Vivo Oncology (CIVO®) platform. This technology addresses a critical bottleneck in oncology: the high failure rate of drugs in clinical trials, often because preclinical models do not accurately reflect the complex human tumor microenvironment. The CIVO® device allows for the intratumoral microdosing of up to eight different drugs or drug combinations directly into a patient's solid tumor before surgery. These microdoses, approximately 1/100th of a standard therapeutic dose, are delivered with fluorescent trackers, enabling researchers to observe cellular and molecular responses within the native tumor environment without subjecting the patient to systemic toxicity. After a set period, the tumor is surgically removed and analyzed to assess drug efficacy, resistance, and potential synergies.

Presage operates on a business model centered around strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. It provides access to its CIVO® platform to help these partners validate new drug targets, identify effective drug combinations, and select the right patient populations for later-stage clinical trials. This is done through Phase 0 studies, which are exploratory trials designed to gather early human data before committing to more expensive and lengthy Phase I trials. The company generates revenue through these collaborations, which have included major players like Merck, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Takeda. Having raised a total of $35 million in equity, the company is backed by venture funds and strategic investors, including LabCorp Venture Fund and Takeda Ventures.

Keywords: oncology drug development, CIVO platform, translational oncology, intratumoral microdosing, tumor microenvironment, Phase 0 clinical trials, cancer therapy evaluation, personalized medicine, spatial biology, drug efficacy testing, preclinical models, cancer research, pharmaceutical partnerships, biotech collaboration, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Dr. Jim Olson, solid tumor analysis, drug combination studies, immuno-oncology, cancer treatment innovation