ARCH and General Catalyst launch clinical trials company Paradigm

Paradigm, a clinical trial technology company, has unexpectedly launched a project with $203 million in Series A funding.

Paradigm will use the money to build a clinical research platform for vendors and biopharmaceutical customers. The company also acquired Deep Lens, an oncology-focused clinical trial recruitment company, for an undisclosed price.

Paradigm was conceived by venture capital firm ARCH Venture Partners and created jointly by ARCH and General Catalyst, another venture capital firm. Along with ARCH and General Catalyst, the investors in this hidden round are F-Prime Capital, GV, LUX Capital and Mubadala Capital. which is the state investment company of the United Arab Emirates.

ARCH has invited clinical research industry veteran Kent Toolke to Paradigm. Telke was a chief scientist at PRA Health Sciences, which was acquired by clinical research organization ICON in 2021.

Along with Toolke, Paradigm’s executive team includes a number of pharmaceutical digital health veterans. Milind Kamkolkar, former chief data officer at Sanofi, is chief operating officer, and Jonathan Hirsch, founder of real-world data company Syapse, is director of strategy and development.

Clinical trials have become a popular target for disruption by technology and retail players alike. Last year, there were 17 deals with digital healthcare companies developing clinical trial technologies, totaling nearly $300 million. according to Digital Health Business & Technology database. This potential has sparked interest from drug makers such as GSK, the British pharmaceutical giant, which has signed four-year contract in September with Medable, a software unicorn for clinical trials.

Retailers such as Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS Health and The Kroger Co. have also jumped into the fray. In June, Walgreens launched a clinical trial business to create a decentralized platform and offer in-person locations to recruit and conduct clinical trials. CVS Health opened a clinical trials division in 2021 and teamed up with Medable for a virtual component last year. On Wednesday, Kroger announced its own clinical trial initiative in partnership with Persephone Biosciences.

This story first appeared in Digital Health Business & Technology.