LONDON, United Kingdom, May 13, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Deep Knowledge Ventures (DKV), a Hong Kong based venture capital fund focused on companies developing therapies for age-related disease and regenerative medicine, has appointed VITAL, a machine learning program capable of making investment recommendations in the life science sector, to its board. VITAL (Validating Investment Tool for Advancing Life Sciences) uses machine learning to analyze financing trends in databases of life science companies and predict successful investments. Aging Analytics, a UK research agency providing life science market intelligence to pension funds, insurers and governments licensed machine learning software VITAL to Deep Knowledge Ventures on May 5th. It was initially developed in cooperation with Center for Biogerontology and Regenerative Medicine (CBRM) and acquired by Aging Analytics in March 2014.
Announcing the appointment, a world first in board appointments and venture capital, DKV Senior Partner Dmitry Kaminskiy stated: "The variables involved in the long-term success of a biotechnology company are many and complex. We were attracted to a software tool that could in large part automate due diligence and use historical data-sets to uncover trends that are not immediately obvious to humans surveying top-line data. We plan to incorporate new information from prospective investments into the databases to compare the outcomes against our selected investments."
Deep Knowledge Ventures have already used the tool to inform investment decisions in two start-up life science companies: Pathway Pharmaceuticals, Limited in Hong Kong and InSilico Medicine, Inc in Baltimore, US. With a long-term goal of developing the software to a point it is capable of autonomously allocating an investment portfolio, the Partners at DKV have indicated their goal by giving the software an equal vote on investment decisions.
Version 1.0 of the software focuses the subset of companies involved in the Regenerative Medical sector organized into a framework that describes the nature of their technology, targeted indication or position in the industry ecosystem. Describing the program, Aging Analytics Senior Analyst Andrew Garazha said:
"We developed VITAL with the goal of creating software that can intuitively predict the success of a project or a company at the initial seed funding level based up on an extensive analysis of historical data. Due to lack of public disclosure datasets on investment rounds, intellectual property and clinical trial outcomes are not always available. In spite of this our team of programmers - several of which have theoretical physics backgrounds - are able to use fuzzy logic to identify probable success based upon an extensive analysis of the parameters involved. Our goal through iterative releases and updates is to create a piece of software that is capable of making autonomous investment decisions."
The move by DKV may herald a new direction in venture capital, as Aging Analytics expects to license the software to other venture capital and alternative investment funds interested in the life science sector. Describing the merits of the technology, Aging Analytics Head of Communications Ashley Highland stated:
"Whereas previous investment tools have defined the Regenerative Medicine sector by those companies actively focused upon it, VITAL digs deeper and analyzes the involvement of companies in the supply chain. For example those companies providing equipment, reagents, cell lines or services. It also documents larger companies just beginning to explore the sector in early-stage translational trials. By breaking down the sector in this way VITAL can provide investors with more conservative options for gaining exposure to this high risk / high reward new sector. Our end goal is to develop a program that is capable of making its own investment decisions based upon an investor's preferences."
Aging Analytics UK will be launching a free Regenerative Medicine Sector Investment Primer on 22nd May 2014 to inform industry stakeholders of the evolving opportunities and associated risks in the sector.
About Aging Analytics
Aging Analytics Agency Ltd performs innovative research in biotechnology and regenerative medicine, keeping abreast of the newest processes and technologies for extending life. Through development of databases, frameworks and software supporting financial decision making it provides tools to qualify capital allocation decisions in the public and private sector. The company also provides strategic consulting in the field of regenerative medicine. Aging Analytics is registered in England & Wales as company no. 08749873. For more information, please visit http://www.aginganalytics.com/
About Deep Knowledge Ventures
Deep Knowledge Ventures is a Hong Kong-based venture fund management company focusing on mid- to long-term biotechnology investments at an early-stage. It routinely invest in both private and public companies specializing in biotechnology, regenerative medicine, oncology, drug discovery, bioinformatics and personalized medicine. For more information, please visit http://www.deepknowledgeventures.com/
About InSilico Medicine
InSilico Medicine is a biotechnology company that uses its expertise in targeted drug selection based on individual patient's gene expression data and signaling cloud regulation for drug discovery in oncology and aging. The longer term goal of In Silico Medicine is to partner with the top pharmaceutical companies to help analyze their drug databases and lead compounds, improve enrollment into clinical trials, and to enable them to accurately predict the efficacy of their drugs on patient groups and individual patients. For more information, please visit http://www.insilicomedicine.com
About Pathway Pharmaceuticals
Pathway Pharmaceuticals is a Hong Kong based personalized medicine service with operations in Baltimore. The company's main service, OncoFINDER uses advanced molecular analysis of patient transcriptomes obtained through biopsies in order to predict drug efficacy and identify the best target therapeutics that may efficiently stop cancer progression. Pathway Pharmaceuticals remains the only company that offers a complete analysis of clinical trials databases focused on the case of the individual patient. For more information, please visit http://www.pathwaypharmaceuticals.com/
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