Lokavant, which provides a data analytics platform for clinical trials, raised $21 million in a funding round led by Edison Partners.

Roivant Sciences, which builds health tech and biotech companies called "Vants," participated in the raise. Lokavant was incubated at Roivant and piloted its platform with some of the company's other biotech ventures. 

As part of the fundraise, Gregg Michaelson, general partner at Edison, will join Lokavant's board of directors. 

WHAT IT DOES

Lokavant offers a centralized data repository for managing clinical trials. The platform allows users to input different data types and sources, and then view visualizations. 

They can also use apps that aim to anticipate future events and mitigate risk, provide insight into study performance, and use third-party and Lokavant data to predict the clinical trial's performance in advance.

The startup said it will use the capital to build up its commercial teams and speed development of new features for the platform. 

"Especially in today's challenging fundraising environment, this milestone is a testament to our platform's ability to address the significant issues present in planning and conducting complex global clinical trials," Lokavant CEO and cofounder Rohit Nambisan said in a statement.

"With significant growth in 2022, we are excited to expand our data ecosystem and accelerate our go-to-market strategy, partnering with best-in-class pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations on their most pressing study planning and execution challenges."

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Lokavant launched in early 2020, announcing a multiyear enterprise license agreement with clinical-research organization Parexel. The company has also partnered with decentralized clinical trial company THREAD, CRO ERGOMED, and healthcare professional networking and data platform H1.

Roivant recently launched a new company with Pfizer focused on developing and commercializing a new ulcerative colitis drug. In November, Roivant confirmed it had laid off 12% of its staff to extend the company's cash runway.