Transforming Clinical Trials: Lindus Health’s Journey
In an exciting development from London, a four-year-old startup, Lindus Health, has announced a remarkable $55 million Series B funding round. This company, backed by Peter Thiel, is on a mission to “fix the broken clinical trial industry.” As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to revolutionize drug discovery and development, there’s an increasing demand for more efficient clinical trial processes to bring new medicines to market faster.
The Rise of the “Anti-CRO”
Lindus Health has created an innovative platform that manages the complete end-to-end process of conducting clinical trials. With automation at its core, Lindus refers to itself as the “anti-CRO” (Contract Research Organization). For those unfamiliar, a CRO is an external entity utilized by pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies to conduct essential clinical research. This enables these companies to concentrate on their core drug development activities.
The CRO market was valued at $82 billion last year and is projected to grow to $130 billion by the decade’s end. Given the complexity and size of clinical trials, which typically involve multiple stages from design to data collection, this growth is not surprising. Lindus aims to streamline many of these processes using machine learning, such as designing initial protocols.
Streamlining Clinical Trials with AI
Lindus Health has developed a protocol generation tool powered by historical data that can draft initial trial plans, significantly reducing labor intensity. While software is a significant part of Lindus’ offerings, co-founder Meri Beckwith emphasizes their comprehensive services for running full-fledged clinical trials, including necessary staffing.
“We’ve directly enrolled and provided treatment for more than 35,000 patients now. On staff, we have medics, doctors, technologists who are overseeing the trial data, clinical operations and regulatory folks,” Beckwith shared in a recent interview with TechCrunch.
— Meri Beckwith
Expanding Horizons
Founded in 2021, Lindus Health has already conducted clinical trials across Europe and the U.S., targeting conditions like asthma, acne, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, weight management, and social anxiety. These trials focus on both drug testing and new medical devices.
Lindus’ mission aligns with addressing complex yet prevalent conditions often neglected by the industry. The rise of AI in healthcare holds promise despite ethical and legal challenges. Notably, AI’s role in drug discovery has seen companies like Google’s DeepMind making significant strides.
The AI-Driven Future of Healthcare
DeepMind’s AlphaFold model recently earned a Nobel Prize for its ability to predict 3D protein structures—key data for disease research and discovering new drug candidates. While early results are promising, clinical trials remain crucial in demonstrating AI technology’s true value.
- Lindus Health’s approach aligns with modernizing the traditional clinical trial industry.
- This includes using venture capital investments to advance trial technology.
- Beckwith believes AI drug discovery will gain momentum if clinical trial bottlenecks are resolved.
“Frankly, all these AI drug discovery companies are not going to have the impact they deserve unless we fix this bottleneck in clinical trials,” Beckwith said. “The average AI drug discovery company spits out targets and hypotheses about this drug or that patient population, but you still have to test them.”
— Meri Beckwith
A New Era for Biotech
Unlike software firms accustomed to rapid testing and iteration, biotech faces challenges in adopting a “move fast and break things” culture. However, efficient infrastructure can greatly enhance clinical trial processes.
“Our mission as a company is to help these biotech companies test and iterate more rapidly and more safely with patients,” Beckwith stated.
— Meri Beckwith
The Road Ahead for Lindus Health
Lindus Health previously secured around $25 million in equity and grant funding. With this new $55 million investment led by Balderton Capital and supported by Creandum, Firstminute, Seedcamp, and Visionaries Club, Lindus plans significant expansion efforts.
- The company is relocating its global headquarters from the U.K. to the U.S.
- Lindus intends to enhance its commercial go-to-market team.
- Plans include expanding into more complex clinical trial types.
- Lindus will bolster integrations with third-party tools like electronic medical records.
- The exploration of further AI applications across their business continues.
“We’re just scratching the surface of what we can do with AI,” Beckwith remarked optimistically about future prospects for Lindus Health.
— Meri Beckwith
