Ibex secures $55m. in funding to advance AI-powered cancer diagnostics

Ibex Medical Analytics, a key player in the field of AI-driven cancer diagnostics, has successfully closed a $55 million Series C funding round, the company announced on Wednesday.

The round was led by 83North, with participation from Sienna Venture Capital and existing investors, including Octopus Ventures, aMoon, Planven Entrepreneur Ventures, and Dell Technologies Capital. With this latest funding, Ibex has now raised over $100m. since its inception in 2016, underlining the sustained interest in the application of AI within the healthcare sector.

In response to these challenges, Ibex has introduced the Galen platform, offering artificial intelligence-driven workflows and decision support tools designed to seamlessly integrate into the daily workflow of pathologists.

In recent years, the integration of AI into the medical field has heralded a transformative era in healthcare. The application of AI technologies, such as machine learning and deep neural networks, has offered new possibilities and avenues for improving patient care, streamlining medical processes, and advancing the accuracy of diagnoses.

How can AI help with cancer diagnostics?

One of the most promising areas where AI has shown immense potential is in cancer diagnostics. The global increase in cancer incidence, coupled with the growing complexity of cancer diagnosis, has placed significant demands on pathologists and diagnostic laboratories.

This situation is further compounded by a worldwide shortage of pathologists who still heavily rely on traditional manual methods and visual analysis of biopsy specimens. AI-powered tools have stepped in to assist pathologists in analyzing complex data, thereby enhancing diagnostic precision and reducing the time required for diagnosis.

Companies like Ibex have been at the forefront of this AI revolution, leveraging technology to improve the quality of cancer diagnoses and support the workflow of healthcare professionals.

“Ibex is leading the market in live customer deployments as we remain steadfast in our mission of providing every patient with a timely, accurate and personalized cancer diagnosis,” said Ibex co-founder and CEO Joseph Mossel.

“This latest financing round will enable us to take major steps toward reaching our goal. We will be using the funds to expand our footprint in the United States to meet the increasing demand for AI-powered diagnostic solutions, and to accelerate the growth of our product portfolio to create more tools for pathologists and labs as they digitally transform their practices. This financing round highlights our strong commercial momentum and our tenacity in pursuing the opportunities that lie ahead.”

Ibex’s Galen platform is among the most widely adopted AI technologies in the field of pathology, with deployments in laboratories and pathology departments worldwide. Recent milestones include the live deployment of Galen at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a comprehensive national rollout in Wales, and strategic collaborations with AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo to develop an AI-powered biomarker scoring product for breast cancer.

Galen offers health systems and diagnostic laboratories an integrated solution for cancer diagnosis and biomarker scoring, capable of detecting over 100 different cancer and non-cancer pathologies, while seamlessly integrating with scanning systems, image management solutions, and lab information systems.

Gil Goren, partner at 83North and board director of Ibex, highlighted the importance of their investment, and praised the company for “bringing its unparalleled technology to laboratories, hospitals and pathology networks worldwide, catapulting the industry into an AI-powered era.”

“Ibex’s successful deployments demonstrate its responsiveness to market and customer needs, while its product portfolio continues to grow and meet new market demands,” he added. “We are eager to see Ibex forge the way with new uses of AI in cancer diagnosis, supporting providers as they work to improve patient care and outcomes.”