Caris Life Sciences

Caris Life Sciences is a liquid and tissue profiling company with a molecular database of more than 455,000 patients and clinical outcomes on more than 350,000 patients. It claims to have one of the largest databases of combined molecular and clinical outcomes data in the world. The company's molecular profiling solutions assess DNA, RNA, and proteins using whole-exome and transcriptome sequencing technology together with AI and machine learning algorithms. It offers a molecular blueprint to support healthcare providers with precise and individualized treatment decisions from 60+ US Food & Drug Administration-approved therapies. A list of positively and negatively associated treatments based on the patient’s biomarkers is provided to a clinician in the form of a report. 

Its Caris Pharmatech operations, which was formed in 2019 after it acquired Pharmatech, aims to streamline the clinical trial process for drug development using its Just-In-Time Oncology Network consisting of 420 research sites as of May 2021. As of March 2023, the company had more than 70 biopharma partnerships. The company has also established the Caris Life Sciences’ Precision Oncology Alliance (POA) medicine and biomarker research to treat patients with cancer. 

The company operates in the B2B2C space as healthcare providers have to order Caris Molecular Intelligence tests online. Additionally, Caris offers healthcare providers the opportunity to interact with cancer experts to review molecular information on specific patient cases. Caris has a global presence with offices in Arizona, New York, Colorado, Japan, and Switzerland. Caris provides services throughout the US, Europe, Asia, and other international markets. 

In October 2023 Caris Life Sciences signed a multi-year deal with health tech company Pramana to digitalize about 1.5 million pathology slide specimens per annum for use with Caris' AI-developed software to support treatment decisions and clinical trial recruitment.

Key customers and partnerships

In December 2022, the company partnered with precision medicine drug developer Hummingbird Bioscience to advance Hummingbird Bioscience's lead program, HMBD-001, an anti-HER3 therapy. 

The company also collaborates with other precision medicine companies, such as Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Elevation Oncology, Ono Pharmaceutical, Incyte , Flare Therapeutics , and ConcertAI and has strategic partnerships with healthcare systems.

Funding and Financials

In May 2021, the company raised USD 830 million in growth equity led by Sixth Street, just under a year of raising USD 310 million. This propelled the company’s valuation to more than USD 7.8 billion. Further in January 2023 , the company secured a USD 400 million term loan. The new funds were used towards settling its outstanding debt, advancing its technological platform, and for corporate expenses.