A pressing question facing the industry is: How can we evaluate drugs more efficiently? But drug developers design and draft clinical trials (protocols) in MS Word that are emailed around for feedback. Today, pharmaceutical companies’ learning from prior clinical studies is limited because the data is siloed and static. Faro Health has developed a software platform with the potential to address this problem with digital infrastructure for smart clinical trials.
Faro Health’s founders—CEO Scott Chetham and Chairman Ross Jaffe—are no strangers to the challenges of drug development. As a former Head of Clinical Operations at Verily, Chetham led 54 programs with biopharma sponsors and managed the development of more than 100 clinical trial protocols. Jaffe’s experience as a physician and as a co-founder and Managing Director of Versant Ventures gives him unique insight into the clinical trial challenges faced by venture-backed healthcare companies. Through these experiences, they developed a vision for how protocol development could be done differently.
Today, at General Catalyst, we are excited to announce we are leading Faro Health’s additional $20M financing. Faro Health’s software platform integrates with existing clinical trial technology, provides novel insights and streamlines the drug development process.
A Patient-Centric Protocol Design Platform to Advance Drug Development
Faro’s solution is being used by top drug developers to greatly reduce the time and cost of trials. While designing studies, the software offers users real-time insights into areas like budgeting and weighing protocol decisions against study timeline implications. By integrating data from prior studies, the Faro platform distills critical information including causes of patient attrition so that teams can iterate their study design to be more patient-centric. Built with an understanding that every clinical trial is unique, the platform is scalable and integrates into downstream clinical trial technology. The Faro platform has the potential to empower clinical trial teams and accelerate the development of novel medicines.
The Future of Technology-Enabled Clinical Trials
We believe that the Faro platform is an indispensable asset in the technology-enabled clinical trial future. Its flagship Protocol Designer’s real time feedback, predictive analytics, and seamless coordination with downstream technology result in more efficient clinical trials. General Catalyst is proud to be on this journey with Faro Health to improve the lives of patients by empowering teams to conduct more effective clinical research faster.
