Mestastop Solutions Raises INR 1.3 Cr From CIIE.CO Mestastop aims to make a difference by understanding metastasis biology and addressing it, for both diagnostics and drug discovery

Bengaluru-based Biotechnology startup Mestastop Solutions Pvt. Ltd on Tuesday announced raised an INR 1.3 crore seed funding round, led by CIIE.CO and including participation from IKP Knowledge Park and Angels.

Mestastop will use the funding to scale its AI-based platform METSCAN, which characterizes cancer cells using patient data samples and their assay panels to understand the cell behavior. It will further be utilized for running PoC animal model studies to validate proof of concept for Cancer drug discovery and repurposing.

"An evolutionary disease like cancer cannot be holistically targeted without targeting metastasis, a process that is complex and is yet to be fully understood. We have successfully created tools and platforms to decipher this biology, translated it with patient data, and then into animal models completing our first phase. Now we endeavor on the bigger journey of using these tools for first-in-class metastasis drug discovery and predictive diagnostics, that will give terminal cancer patients a second shot at life, further reinforcing India's image as one of the pioneering innovation hubs in the Biotech world," stated Dr. Arnab Roy Chowdhury, founder, and chief executive officer, Mestastop.

Founded in the year 2018, the company is based in Bengaluru, where they are bringing together a cross-functional team, trained in discovery, diagnostics, and AI, supported by the state-of-the-art infrastructure available in India's best bioscience incubators. Dr. Arnab Roy Chowdhury and his wife Dr. Debabani Roy Chowdhury are the brains behind Mestastop which looks at bringing a revolution in cancer treatment.

Cancer metastasis, a complex biological process, is responsible for 90 per cent of cancer-related deaths. According to Emergen Research 2020 report, the Global Metastatic Cancer Treatment Market is projected to be worth $111.16 billion by 2027. Mestastop is creating a cancer metastasis-focused platform that uses wet-lab biology and predictive analytics to identify and distinguish unique properties of metastasis and leverage them for drug discovery and patient treatment. Mestastop has mimicked metastasis biology in multiple steps, each being represented by a cell-based functional assay. The colorectal and triple-negative breast cancer-based platform is ready and Mestastop is normalizing the colorectal platform with patient sample data.

Currently, the company has initiated testing patient data samples as well as animal model validation. In addition to this, one international patent has been filed and another provisional patent is currently being drafted.

"Globally, there are several startups focusing on cancer diagnostics and drug discovery. Mestastop is creating a niche for itself using assay and genetically engineered cell-based approaches to develop an AI-based platform to predict metastasis and we are delighted to partner with them on this journey. We believe that their platform will play an instrumental role in changing cancer treatment in India and the world around," said Chintan Antani, assistant vice president, seed investments, CIIE.CO.

Mestastop has developed three proprietary platforms - METAssay, METSCAN, and METVivo to unravel metastasis drug discovery and predictive diagnostics. The company is currently working on validating its platforms on a larger sample of patient tumors that will empower its IP creation. Previously the company also received an investment from Vistari Ventures and Mumbai Angels.