Teckro co-founder and CEO Gary Hughes. Image: Sean True
Teckro has created a digital infrastructure that transforms how clinical trials are conducted.
Limerick medtech player Teckro has raised $25m in a Series C round led by US investor Northpond Ventures.
Teckro was founded by brothers Gary and Nigel Hughes, and Jacek Skrzypiec in 2015. The founders sold their previous company, Firecrest, to global clinical research giant Icon in 2011.
‘The actual experience of participating in a clinical trial if you are a doctor, research nurse or patient has changed little in the last 20 years’
– GARY HUGHES
The latest investment brings Teckro’s total funding to date to $43m from investors that include Northpond, Founders Fund and Bill Maris’s Section 32.
Meaningful impact
Teckro uses machine-learning technologies to improve the speed and accuracy of clinical trials. It works with the world’s top pharmaceutical and biotech companies, with users in more than 80 countries.
“Teckro is building a digital infrastructure which can transform how clinical trials are conducted,” said Michael Rubin, founder and CEO of Northpond Ventures. “We are excited by the team and what they have achieved to date, and look forward to supporting them on this important mission.”
CEO Gary Hughes said that there has been a 240pc increase in the number of clinical trials on the Teckro platform in the past year. He said the company will use the Series C round to continue its international expansion and product development in an effort to meaningfully impact and improve processes for all stakeholders involved in clinical trials.
“Despite all the talk of digital transformation, the actual experience of participating in a clinical trial if you are a doctor, research nurse or patient has changed little in the last 20 years.
“The industry still relies heavily on paper, on working off retrospective data, and there is still an over-reliance on sending CRAs [clinical research associates] to busy research sites. This approach, together with the plethora of point solutions that get ‘bolted on’, only adds to the complexity and disjointed experience of research sites and patients,” Hughes said.
He said that Teckro is building a new digital infrastructure and toolset for clinical research that makes the conduct of trials simpler, more transparent and more inclusive.
“Ultimately, Teckro is about ensuring that effective drugs are efficiently and effectively moved from the lab to the patient so that lives be saved.”
To fuel the international expansion, the company is currently hiring across all functions, including engineering, product, clinical operations, and sales and marketing, as it continues to expand rapidly across all its offices.
