Cancer data platform COTA (Cancer Outcomes Tracking and Analysis) has announced the close of $3.7 million in a planned $7 million Series A funding round led by Horizon Healthcare Services, with participation from Med-Metrix.
COTA is a cloud-based program which collects certain cancer patient data and provides real-time genetic sorting of certain cancers. It also provides outcome tracking and reporting to cancer doctors. This could be useful in cutting down costs in cancer care and treatment and is part of a larger move in the health industry to use cloud-based data to better treat and allocate resources. One example of how COTA works is with breast cancer, which has many subtypes. Obtaining certain genetic information before therapy starts could help the doctor know chemotherapy may not be ideal in some patients whose genetic signature predicts no benefit to chemotherapy.
COTA previously received a seed round of funding from private sources and RCCA, one of the largest oncology groups in the country. The new funds will be used to expand development of the COTA platform, hire biostatisticians, outcome analysts, data support as well as sales and marketing personnel. COTA also plans to use the funds to launch the company’s first commercial product.