BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product Development

Adaptive is surfing a wave of enthusiasm in disease detection, betting on the immune system

With a valuation over $5B, Adaptive is charging into early disease detection via a platform to compete with Grail and Guardant.

August 15, 2019 11:07 PM UTC

Adaptive’s float to more than $5 billion after its June IPO is largely based on its ambition to compete with the likes of Grail and Guardant in early diagnosis of cancer and other diseases by taking advantage of the immune system’s powers of detection. Getting there will require building a universal map of interactions between TCR sequences and disease-associated antigens, which Adaptive and partner Microsoft Corp. think they can complete in five to ten years.

Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp. more than doubled its share price to above $40 within a day of its June 26 debut, and it remains at $47.81 per share after reporting Q2 earnings Monday. The rally is the latest indicator that broad, non-invasive early detection platforms break the mold for how investors value diagnostics...