What You Should Know
- The News: Prenosis has secured a combined $40M in new capital—split evenly between a $20M Series A led by PACE Healthcare Capital and a $20M federal contract from BARDA.
- The Tech: The funding supports the commercial rollout of Sepsis ImmunoScore® (the first FDA-authorized AI diagnostic for sepsis) and the development of a “comprehensive precision medicine platform” for conditions like pneumonia and ARDS.
- The Trial: The BARDA contract funds a massive randomized controlled trial of 800 patients to test an AI “companion diagnostic” that predicts which patients will benefit from corticosteroids, moving critical care away from “one-size-fits-all” protocols.
The “Sepsis Moonshot”
Sepsis kills more people annually than all cancers combined, yet treating it remains a blunt instrument. Doctors often rely on broad-spectrum antibiotics and standardized protocols because they lack the tools to see what is happening inside an individual patient’s immune system in real-time. Prenosis announced a major step toward changing that reality.
The Chicago-based health tech company Prenosis revealed a dual milestone: the closing of a $20M Series A financing round and the awarding of a $20M contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). This combined $40M war chest positions Prenosis to move beyond simple diagnostics and into the realm of “precision critical care.”
“Because of these investments, we are well-positioned to advance the development of biology-driven solutions that can transform outcomes,” said Bobby Reddy, Jr., PhD, CEO of Prenosis.
Scaling the FDA-Authorized Sepsis Tool
The private capital, led by PACE Healthcare Capital with backing from Labcorp Venture Fund and Carle Health, is primarily aimed at commercialization. Prenosis already made history with the Sepsis ImmunoScore®, the first AI diagnostic tool for sepsis to receive FDA authorization. The tool integrates biological markers with clinical data to predict risk faster than human observation alone. The Series A funding will fuel the deployment of this tool into hospital workflows, aiming to catch sepsis in the “golden hour” before organ damage becomes irreversible.
The BARDA Bet: Precision Steroids
While the Series A focuses on detection, the BARDA contract focuses on treatment. Awarded under the “Type to Treat Program,” this $20M federal investment funds a groundbreaking study.
The cornerstone is a randomized controlled trial enrolling 800 patients with severe respiratory infections. The goal? To validate an AI “companion diagnostic” that tells doctors whether a patient should receive corticosteroids.
Currently, steroids are a common but controversial treatment in critical care—they save some patients and harm others. Prenosis claims its AI can identify the specific biological profiles of patients who will benefit, effectively ending the guessing game.
Building the Precision Medicine Clinical Trial Network
Perhaps the most ambitious aspect of the announcement is the infrastructure play. Prenosis plans to integrate its Immunix™ platform into up to 40 top academic medical centers across the U.S. This creates a “precision medicine clinical trial network” capable of rapidly identifying patients with specific biological traits.
