MiLaboratories receives $10M for platform to accelerate genomic research

The development of DNA sequencing and the large amount of genomic data generated by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has created the first opportunity to create software for biologists to be able to easily analyze this large data and take the next step. It can help when it comes to developing new vaccines, cancer treatments and more.

For the past four years, MiLaboratories, a San Francisco-based company with an R&D center in Bilbao, Spain, has been building a computational biology platform to make it easier for biologists to process, analyze and synthesize their data. It incorporates features such as data visualization and generative AI to improve usability.

Its platform is also designed to be a marketplace for other scientists to distribute specialized computational tools in the form of applications to further expand the use of the genomics research community. MiLaboratories is aimed at scientists with skills that include biology, computer science and mathematics – the so-called biologists.

“It’s a ‘no code’ style approach for biologists again we also issue i [open source] An SDK – a software development kit – that allows bioinformaticians to build real-world applications,” CEO Stan Poslavsky told TechCrunch.

“During my work with our scientific founders, we saw inefficiencies. . . in the way modern treatments, the way modern drugs are developed,” he explained. “Because of this conflict between data – big data, generated by biologists, sequential data – and data analysis that is not available to them.”

While there are “thousands” of software programs and tools that can analyze NGS data, he says most have been developed within academia, where the focus is on usability rather than usability.

There is also a need for biologists to synthesize and synthesize results from multiple analyses, he says. “In a unified picture, which allows you to understand what is happening. And that’s where our platform comes in handy,” he suggests.

The startup hopes that its platform will free bioinformaticians from being called upon to deal with the difficult task of processing genomic data so that those multidisciplinary scientists can apply their skills to the complex tasks of building algorithms that can help advance high-quality science.

“Bioinformaticians actually spend a lot of time doing monkey work using biologist software,” Poslavsky said. “To process this data, you need to have Linux machines, bypass SSH, use sophisticated software tools to analyze and gain insight into the data.”

“[A doctor] does not have the capabilities to do this on Linux, on HPC [high performance computing] collection, because he has other things to do. That’s what many bioinformatics professionals in companies and academia do, in fact, this monthly job of using the tools. “

On Thursday, MiLaboratories officially released its SDK, Platforma.bio, which allows third-party developers to contribute apps – although it has been in alpha and beta testing for several years. (Poslavsky says “about 300 labs” have been using the beta, and “about 20” apps have been made available on the platform, so far.)

“The first applications available on the platform are built around our biological and biological applications, which are very popular . . . [with] companies and individuals involved in the development of physical therapy. But we already have it. . . it’s a good choice to collaborate with people who are willing to bring their applications to the platform, both from academia and industry,” he adds.

The startup founded in 2021 also announced a Series A funding round of $10 billion to continue development, focusing on investing in community building.

“The main reason for raising money is to connect more hands in the development of our platform. We are hiring more engineers. We hire so-called developer facilitators, who spread the technology around – especially – the academic community, because a lot of bioinformatics software is developed in academia. “

“Next year [we will] focus on the distribution of technology around the community, and the involvement of the community to build their own applications, to wrap their existing software, to bring it through the platform,” he adds.

MiLaboratories’ Series A was led by Madrid-based Kfund, with participation from Acrobat Ventures, EGB Capital, Courtyard Ventures, Somersault Ventures, Speedinvest and Ten13.

Commenting in the statement, Miguel Arias, general partner of Kfund, said: “Investing in platforms that bridge the gap between developers (in this case bioinformatics) and business users (in this case biologists) is at the heart of what we want to do. in our wallet. There is great potential in democratizing access to complex data that enables the delivery of immunological insights. “

MiLaboratories offers its software for free to academics but also charges on a paid model for commercial users. According to Poslavsky the startup is approaching 100 paying customers at this stage.

“Many large pharmaceutical companies – such as Moderna, Bristol-Myers Squibb – are our clients,” he notes, adding: “We have income – good income – which allows us to be less dependent on venture capital.”

In early 2022, the startup raised $2.5 million in seed. In the past it took a few pre-angelic offspring.

Discussing the challenges of developing a computational biology platform, Poslavsky says the incredible amount of data generated by NGS means startups must pay close attention to ensuring processing efficiency to avoid generating “crazy costs”.

“The amount of data being generated in space is actually insane,” he insists. “Big pharmaceutical companies, our customers . . . they have petabytes of genetic data generated so far. So that’s a big measure.”

MiLaboratories has developed what Poslavsky calls “highly sophisticated” and “mathematically proven” technology that allows many types of calculations to be performed in a “highly optimized way.” He suggests this technology – which is patented – allows the platform to achieve 10x efficiency compared to other types of computing workflows.

“That is the most important thing. It’s hidden from the biologist’s eye – because the key proposition of the biologist is ‘I want to push buttons to get insight’ – but it’s very important for business owners.”

Competitive wise, Poslavsky names Seqera (and its Nextflow software) as the closest competitor – in terms of popularity and value proposition. There are also open source tools for NGS processing, such as Galaxy, but MiLaboratories thinks its platform offers researchers a more accessible way to access data.