Ice Miller Assists Cellens in Raising $6.5 Million to Advance Physics-Based Test for Bladder Cancer
Ice Miller represented Cellens—a Boston-based cancer diagnostics company pioneering a new mechanobiology and AI-driven platform, BioFeel™, for non-invasive cancer detection, in raising a $6.5 million Series Seed round.
Cellens’ technology is a departure from the norm in cancer diagnostics, in which scientists largely rely on molecular markers inside the cell. The company uses atomic force microscopy, which “feels” the stiffness of cells to identify a cancer’s biophysical fingerprint rather than its molecular signature. The technology is combined with machine learning algorithms trained on millions of cell interactions.
The financing follows compelling early clinical data generated with leading urologists at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, showing that the company’s urine-based bladder cancer test detected recurrence with strong diagnostic performance, detecting all recurrence cases and achieving an Area under the Curve (AUC) of 88% in an initial prospective clinical study.
The round was led by SOSV, with participation from the Labcorp Venture Fund, KOLON, Blackwood Healthcare Breakthroughs, Tufts University, American Cancer Society BrightEdge, Cancer Fund, TiE Boston Angels, and other strategic investors.
Bladder cancer is among the most common and most expensive cancers to monitor, with an estimated 83,190 new United States cases in 2024 and 800,000 living with the disease nationwide. Because recurrence is frequent, patients undergo repeated invasive cystoscopies, often several times per year. Yet, the majority of these procedures yield negative results, creating significant patient burden and high health care costs. According to SEER-Medicare projections, bladder cancer is expected to reach $11.6 billion in annual United States costs by 2030.
Ice Miller Business partners Dann Bruno and Mai Zymaris represented Cellens in the financing, with assistance from associates Michael Bennett and Tim Pierret. Our Life Sciences practice group has extensive experience working with start-ups to help them with seed-stage funding, intellectual property procurement and counseling, and licensing and strategic alliances.
