What You Should Know: 

– VieCure, a leading cancer care company, announced today that it’s integrating DrFirst’s e-prescribing and medication management solutions into its clinical decision support system. 

– VieCure is a well-established point-of-care intelligence system specifically designed for community oncologists. Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), patient data, and a comprehensive oncology knowledge base, VieCure generates personalized treatment plans for cancer patients, including medication recommendations.

Expanding Functionality with DrFirst

VieCure is taking its partnership with DrFirst, a health technology pioneer, a step further. They are adding DrFirst’s flagship electronic prescribing platform, Rcopia, to their existing use of EPCS Gold, a controlled substance prescribing solution.

Benefits of Rcopia Integration:

• Improved Workflow Efficiency: Rcopia offers a streamlined workflow for all e-prescribing needs, reducing administrative burden for physicians and clinical staff.
• Enhanced Patient Care: Rcopia provides access to the nation’s most complete medication history data feed, along with allergy and clinical alerts. This allows for better-informed prescribing decisions.
• Price Transparency: Rcopia integrates price transparency tools, enabling informed discussions about medication costs between patients and providers.
• Promoting Medication Adherence: Tools within Rcopia encourage patients to adhere to their medication regimens, leading to potentially better treatment outcomes.
• Comprehensive Pain Management View: Direct access to state prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) gives prescribers a complete picture of a patient’s pain management medications.

“VieCure’s integration of DrFirst’s Rcopia underscores our dedication to enhancing patient safety, optimizing clinical workflows, and satisfying customers,” said Fred Ashbury, PhD, MACE, VieCure co-founder and chief scientific officer. “We look forward to providing our clients with Rcopia’s advanced features for medication history, medication adherence monitoring, electronic prior authorizations, and real-time prescription benefit checks.”

What You Should Know:

• Culmination Bio, a data and technology company combining clinical and biospecimen data, announced a partnership with BillionToOne, Inc., a next-generation molecular diagnostics company with a mission to create powerful and accurate tests that are accessible to all.
• Culmination Bio and BillionToOne are working together to leverage their respective strengths in order to facilitate the development and validation of robust and impactful oncology diagnostics.

Advancing Cancer Diagnostics: BillionToOne Collaborates with Culmination Bio for Validation and Research Acceleration

Utilizing Culmination Bio’s Data Lake and patient recruitment capabilities, BillionToOne aims to validate two diagnostic tests: Northstar Select™, an ultra-sensitive, NGS-based liquid biopsy test for stage III/IV cancer patients, and Northstar Response™, a tissue-free, NGS-based treatment monitoring assay assessing >500 genomic loci uniquely methylated in cancer. 

These tests precisely quantify changes in methylated ctDNA to inform treatment efficacy in terms of progression, response, or stable disease. BillionToOne seeks to address cancer profiling challenges and monitor treatment response effectively, crucial for treatment effectiveness determination. The validation process involves utilizing Culmination Bio’s patient base to establish the clinical performance by comparing blinded assay results to known outcomes. 

“Our partnership with BillionToOne demonstrates our commitment to advancing healthcare in support of innovative diagnostic solutions”, said Mark Oldroyd, Chief Commercial Officer of Culmination Bio. “By providing access to our research-focused, biospecimen-based data, we’re not only accelerating novel scientific development but paving the way for improving diagnostics which promise to transform oncology care”

This collaboration, comprising two projects, accelerates diagnostic development and facilitates future regulatory submissions. The first project, initiated in early fall, has made significant progress, collecting 60 patient samples, including those with rare mutations. This swift data accumulation underscores the partnership’s efficacy in expediting research. This update coincides with Culmination Bio’s $10M investment from Merck Global Health Innovation Fund (Merck GHIF) and Amgen Ventures, alongside a recent announcement of a multi-year R&D partnership with Merck to study autoimmune diseases. Culmination Bio is revolutionizing healthcare by leveraging biological data enriched with clinical, claims, and genomic data to deliver unparalleled value to healthcare organizations.

What You Should Know:

– The American Cancer Society (ACS) and Color Health announced today a significant expansion of their existing program, creating a first-of-its-kind comprehensive cancer solution for employers and labor unions. This enhanced program goes beyond screening and prevention to support employees and members throughout all stages of the cancer journey.

– The expanded program builds upon the existing collaboration between ACS and Color Health, which has already provided accessible cancer prevention and screening solutions to over 150 million Americans. Through this partnership, a portion of Color Health’s proceeds supports the ACS mission.

Addressing the Full Spectrum of Cancer Care

Previously focused on convenient and accessible screening solutions, the program now offers a holistic approach that includes:

• Color Medical Clinical Teams: These dedicated teams manage abnormal screenings, confirmed diagnoses, and provide specialized care for high-risk individuals.
• Holistic Support for Employees: The program offers comprehensive support services for employees undergoing treatment, including mental health resources.
• Integrated Care for Survivors: Support continues beyond treatment with dedicated resources for survivors, including physical and mental health support, and assistance managing ongoing care costs.

Pilot Study Demonstrates Program Effectiveness

Color Health shared early results from a pilot study showing promising outcomes:

• Increased Screening Awareness: 84% of participants significantly improved their understanding of cancer screening recommendations.
• Boosted Screening Rates: Rates of guideline-based screening adherence doubled or tripled within just eight weeks.
• High Patient Satisfaction: Nearly 90% of participants reported excellent or very good experiences with Color’s clinical team.
• Strong Interest in Support Services: The vast majority (90%) expressed interest in emotional and social support following a cancer diagnosis.

Key Features of the Expanded Program

• Virtual Cancer Clinic: This innovative clinic offers a dedicated care team with practicing physicians, oncologists, genetic counselors, and high-risk coordinators.
• Integrated Diagnostics and Imaging: The program facilitates swift, high-quality care through an in-house network and access to at-home screening tests.
• Robust Patient Support: Color Cancer Connect provides peer support programs and mental health services. Care Advocates assist with appointment scheduling, financial considerations, and other logistical needs.

Supporting Every Step of the Cancer Journey

The comprehensive program addresses five crucial aspects of workforce cancer care:

1. Education & Awareness: Tailored educational resources help employees understand cancer risks and screening recommendations.
2. Evidence-Based Screening: Risk assessments guide employees on appropriate screening based on ACS guidelines.
3. Diagnosis Management: Color’s experienced clinicians support employees through a potential diagnosis, ensuring efficient navigation and timely access to care.
4. Cancer Treatment Support: All program participants have access to treatment support services through integrations with Centers of Excellence at no additional cost.
5. Survivorship: Comprehensive care continues for employees in remission, addressing both physical and mental health needs, and assisting with managing ongoing care costs.

“Over the past year, we have heard from employers and funds across the U.S. who are asking for a single program and model that focuses equally on early detection as it does on cancer treatment support. We know that moving the needle on detection is the only thing that will cause a state change in cancer outcomes and costs,” said Othman Laraki, CEO of Color. “We’re recognizing the need for a comprehensive clinic approach, which really takes on clinical care and support while also lowering access barriers and thinking holistically about cancer — which is not just a medical issue, but something that is far more complex.”

What You Should Know:

– Lunit (KRX:328130.KQ), a provider of AI-powered cancer diagnostics and therapeutics solutions, announced today two significant commercial agreements that mark its continued European expansion.

– These strategic deals will bring Lunit’s AI-powered cancer screening solution to healthcare providers in France and Portugal, aiding in the fight against cancer.

TeleDiag and Lunit Partner to Improve Lung Cancer Detection in France

Lunit has partnered with TeleDiag, France’s largest teleradiology group, to supply its AI-powered chest X-ray analysis solution, Lunit INSIGHT CXR. This CE-marked solution is designed to detect ten of the most common lung abnormalities, including lung cancer, with high accuracy.

TeleDiag boasts a vast network of over 600 radiologists serving more than 300 medical practices. Annually, they screen over 600,000 patients. The incorporation of Lunit INSIGHT CXR into their workflow has the potential to significantly improve lung disease detection accuracy and effectiveness across the French healthcare system.

TeleDiag selected Lunit after a rigorous evaluation of various AI solutions for chest X-rays. Lunit INSIGHT CXR stood out due to its exceptional technical performance and ability to identify a wider range of findings.

LPCC Selects Lunit for AI-driven Mammography Analysis in Portugal

In a separate agreement, Lunit has partnered with the Portuguese League Against Cancer (LPCC) to deliver its FDA-cleared and CE-marked AI solution for mammography analysis, Lunit INSIGHT MMG. The central region branch of LPCC plans to leverage this technology to analyze an estimated 100,000 mammograms annually over the next three years.

Founded in 1941, LPCC is a crucial non-profit organization overseeing the Portuguese National Breast Cancer Screening Program. Their decision to choose Lunit’s solution came after a comprehensive internal validation process using their own population screening data. During this process, Lunit INSIGHT MMG demonstrated exceptional performance.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is set to transform the field of diagnostics, similar to how X-rays and genetic tests revolutionized healthcare in the past. Reshaping routine diagnostic procedures and treatment decisions and propelling pharmaceutical and research domains into new realms, AI offers significant benefits to clinicians, healthcare systems, researchers, and, most importantly, patients. This is particularly evident in cancer diagnosis and treatment across six key areas:

1. Revolutionizing the Pathologist’s Toolbox: AI is rapidly becoming an indispensable tool for pathologists, exerting a direct and positive influence on cancer outcomes. Studies demonstrate pathologists who integrated AI into their workflow showed improved accuracy, near-zero misdiagnosis rates, detection of very small foci of cancer, lower turnaround times and overall higher efficiency during the diagnostic process. While AI cannot replace the expertise of pathologists, clinicians who embrace AI tools will soon have a key advantage over those who persist in relying solely on manual methods. Relevant malignant areas in biopsies are rapidly and accurately identified by AI, offering key clinical findings to pathologists and supporting them with objective cancer grading. In addition, routine and repetitive tasks – such as cell counting, evaluating biomarker expression and measuring features within a biopsy – are easily handled by AI, allowing physicians to focus on more intricate cases while reducing human error. Its role in expediting urgent case review, through triage or lab automation, alleviates patient stress and clears a faster path to treatment initiation. This shift is poised to have a lasting impact on healthcare practices, echoing AI’s influence in other professional domains.

2. Elevating Healthcare Through Trust: The incorporation of AI into the diagnostic lab goes beyond merely improving accuracy; it fosters trust among oncologists and patients, a crucial factor in a field historically reliant on manual and subjective estimates. Advanced AI algorithms leverage extensive datasets analyzed by domain specialists and trained using advanced machine learning techniques, to become the clinician’s trusted digital assistant. These tools can be used for primary or secondary diagnostic support to review cases before pathologist review or to flag potential misdiagnosis following report submission. In turn, despite the rise in cancer cases around the world and overwhelming workloads, pathologists can keep up with growing demand and yet remain confident that they provide high-quality diagnoses on time.

3. AI for All: Diagnostic Equity: Expert pathologists are typically concentrated in large academic centers, cancer-focused centers, and university hospitals, creating health disparities for those patients who are diagnosed in community hospitals or high-volume reference labs relying on generalist pathologists who sometimes lack the expertise or experience needed to diagnose a complex biopsy. The capabilities of accurate, objective and automated AI-powered solutions bridge this gap, allowing patients to receive expert-grade and reliable diagnoses comparable to those provided by top domain specialists, regardless of location. With accurate diagnosis the cornerstone of modern healthcare, this marks a significant stride towards eliminating healthcare disparities and promoting trusted, equitable access to high-quality cancer care.

4. A Major Step Forward for Oncology Through Precision Medicine: AI is set to achieve remarkable progress in personalized precision medicine. Advanced AI models, coupled with expansive databases that encompass longitudinal clinical data meshed with pathology, imaging, and genetics tests, empower oncologists to more accurately estimate prognosis and identify optimal treatments tailored to individual patients. AI’s capacity to stratify patients into refined sub-categories drives precision medicine, moving away from broad disease classifications. This intersection of AI and medicine marks a significant leap toward personalized healthcare, promising more targeted and effective treatments for patients worldwide.

5. The Unleashing of Targeted Drug Development: The pharmaceutical industry is undergoing a paradigm shift with AI propelling advancements in research and development of novel drugs. A growing number of pharma companies are poised to seamlessly integrate AI into their drug discovery processes and clinical trials. This strategic move holds the potential to streamline the analysis of extensive data lakes, ensuring cost-effective methods for identifying novel and more precise signals, undetectable via traditional drug development methods. At the same time, ongoing efforts to develop predictive AI tools that focus on identifying eligible patients who can benefit from specific drugs and providing clinicians with personalized treatment recommendations, underscore the industry’s embrace of cutting-edge technology for enhanced efficiency and precision in pharmaceutical research.

6. Beyond Code: Safeguarding Healthcare with Rigorous Validation of AI Technologies: As with any emerging technology in healthcare, AI undergoes meticulous testing and validation before integration into clinical practice. Regulatory bodies, hospitals, and laboratories play pivotal roles in ensuring the safety and health benefits of AI, validating efficacy across diverse datasets that represent varied patient populations and disease types. Moreover, as diagnostic labs across the world vary in how they process and test specimens, for AI to be considered reliable, it must be validated at multiple sites using different systems, to ensure that its performance is reproducible across different lab settings. Continuous post-market surveillance, alongside publications in peer-reviewed journals and in scientific conferences, contributes significantly to the ongoing validation and monitoring of AI performance. This thorough process ensures AI technologies meet stringent standards, providing healthcare professionals and patients with reliable and effective tools for improved medical outcomes.

Embracing the transformative potential of AI, the healthcare landscape is primed to elevate precision, efficiency, and patient-centered care in 2024. The positive impact of trusted AI technologies on healthcare will generate a ripple effect, influencing practices, treatments, and outcomes for the benefit of all. 

About Chaim Linhar

Chaim Linhart, Chaim is Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Ibex Medical Analytics, the leader in AI-powered cancer diagnostics.

What You Should Know:

– Absci Corporation (ABSI), a pioneer in using generative AI to discover antibodies, and AstraZeneca, a global biopharmaceutical leader, announced a collaboration today to develop an AI-designed antibody for cancer.

– This partnership combines Absci’s cutting-edge Integrated Drug Creation™ platform with AstraZeneca’s oncology expertise, aiming to accelerate the discovery of a potential new cancer treatment.

Absci’s AI Engine Takes the Lead

Absci will leverage its innovative AI technology to design a therapeutic antibody against a specific oncology target. AstraZeneca’s upfront commitment, research and development funding, milestone payments, and future royalties on product sales demonstrate their confidence in Absci’s approach.

Revolutionizing Drug Discovery with AI and Wet-Lab Integration

Absci’s Integrated Drug Creation™ platform is a powerful combination of generative AI and cutting-edge wet-lab technologies. It generates proprietary data by analyzing millions of protein-protein interactions, which then trains its AI models. These models are further refined by validating AI-designed antibodies in the real world, creating a continuous feedback loop.

This unique platform accelerates drug discovery by completing the entire cycle of data collection, AI-driven design, and wet-lab validation within an estimated six weeks. It aims to increase the success rate of developing new biologic drugs by optimizing multiple drug features simultaneously and tackling previously “undruggable” targets like GPCRs and ion channels.

The combined expertise of Absci and AstraZeneca offers a promising outlook for developing innovative cancer treatments. By harnessing the power of AI, this collaboration has the potential to significantly accelerate drug discovery and bring new hope to cancer patients worldwide.

What You Should Know:

– Ibex Medical Analytics (Ibex), a provider of AI-powered cancer diagnostics raises $55M in Series C financing round led by 83North.

– The round also included participation from Sienna Venture Capital and existing investors in the company, Octopus Ventures, aMoon, Planven Entrepreneur Ventures and Dell Technologies Capital. The financing brings total funding to over $100M since Ibex’s inception in 2016.          

AI-Powered Cancer Diagnostics

Ibex is transforming cancer diagnostics with AI-powered solutions that help pathologists improve the quality of diagnosis and support laboratories with enhanced efficiency and better turnaround times. Cancer incidence is rising around the world while its diagnosis becomes more complex and nuanced, causing heavy workloads for pathologists and laboratories. The increasing demand is compounded by a global shortage of pathologists who still rely heavily on manual work and solely on visual analysis of biopsies. Ibex’s Galen platform helps overcome these challenges with AI-powered workflows and decision support tools that pathologists use in their everyday practice.

“Ibex is leading the market in live customer deployments as we remain steadfast in our mission of providing every patient with a timely, accurate and personalized cancer diagnosis,” said Joseph Mossel, Co-Founder and CEO of Ibex. “This latest financing round will enable us to take major steps toward reaching our goal. We will be using the funds to expand our footprint in the United States to meet the increasing demand for AI-powered diagnostic solutions, and to accelerate the growth of our product portfolio to create more tools for pathologists and labs as they digitally transform their practices. This financing round highlights our strong commercial momentum and our tenacity in pursuing the opportunities that lie ahead.”

What You Should Know:

– Ibex Medical Analytics today announced that Galen™ Prostate has become the first standalone AI-powered cancer diagnostics solution to obtain CE Mark under Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (IVDR) for supporting pathologists in the primary diagnosis of prostate biopsies.

– Galen Prostate is the first standalone AI-based cancer diagnostics product of its kind certified under the IVDR. 

– During 2023, Ibex plans to migrate additional products, including its Galen Breast and Galen Gastric solutions, under the IVDR certificate.

By the end of 2022, nearly 42,00 new cases of primary liver cancer will be diagnosed in the United States. In fact, liver cancer incidence rates have more than tripled since 1980, marking an increased need for better detection and diagnosis. 

We might not talk about liver cancer as much as we do breast or lung cancer, but it’s a real threat to millions of Americans – and we need to continue spreading awareness. 

Early detection is especially critical in treating liver cancer. Patients need to know what factors put them at risk and what symptoms can indicate the presence of a tumor. The earlier cancer can be identified, the greater chance of survival and remission.

The State of Liver Cancer Today

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer in America and throughout the world. It accounts for 90% of all new liver cancers diagnosed and is the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths. 

When looking at liver cancer survival rates, it’s important to keep in mind how those rates are determined.

– Localized: there is no sign that cancer has spread outside of the liver (35%). 

– Regional: cancer has spread outside the liver to nearby structures or lymph nodes (12%). 

– Distant: cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the lung or bones (3%). 

Studies show that, like all cancers, the sooner liver cancer is detected, the better the chance for survival. Survival rates are the highest in cases in which surgery or a liver transplant is involved, likely early on in treatment. 

Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer diagnosed today. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to detect liver cancer early, as the signs and symptoms do not typically appear until the later stages. Small tumors are also challenging to detect in a physical exam – most of the liver is obscured by the right rib cage. This can contribute to late detection and diagnosis. 

Common Liver Cancer Risk Factors

Different cancers have different risk factors – some of which are environmental, others which are biological or hereditary, such as inherited liver diseases. A brief list of common risk factors includes: 

– Smoking

– Poor diet and exercise

– Chronic infections from Hepatitis B (HBV) or Hepatitis C (HCV) 

– Progressive, irreversible cirrhosis that causes scar tissue to develop

– Inherited liver diseases including hemochromatosis and Wilson’s Disease

– Diabetes

– Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

– Exposure to aflatoxins

– Excessive alcohol consumption

What are some preemptive steps you can take to prevent liver cancer? Although some factors may be out of your control, there are a few things that you can do to help lower your risk:

– Eat a nutritious diet and maintain a healthy weight

– Exercise regularly

– Quit smoking

– Cut down or eliminate alcohol consumption

– Get a Hepatitis B vaccine

– Seek immediate treatment if you have an HBV or HCV infection

Liver Cancer Detection and Treatment

Liver cancer is most commonly detected once individuals begin experiencing symptoms and turn to a doctor. However, it can be detected earlier if the patient goes in for regular screenings and knows they are at risk. 

The most commonly used tests and procedures include: 

– Physical exam with your doctor

– Ultrasound

– Computed Tomography (CT) scan

– Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

– Biopsy

– Alpha-fetoprotein blood (AFP) test

– Liver function tests (LFTs)

Leading businesses today are empowering people to check for liver cancer early with a simple blood test, and utilizing the power of big data and artificial intelligence to detect cancer at its earliest stages. For the majority of cancers, 90% survive if detected at an early stage.

Factors That Influence Liver Cancer Prognosis

Liver cancer prognosis depends on many different internal and external factors. The stage of cancer, how well the liver is functioning, age, and the patient’s general health are all key factors that affect prognosis. These factors also impact cancer’s response to treatment.

The survival rate does decrease if the liver cancer spreads to nearby organs or to the lymph nodes. If it has progressed to other parts of the body, the five-year survival rate typically lowers to around 3%. That’s another reason to check for liver cancer early and often, especially if you have pre-existing risk factors. 

Unfortunately, HCC is often caught later than many other cancers, and that has resulted in a lower median survival rate of approximately 6 to 20 months. In the United States, the 2 year survival rate is less than 50% and the 5-year survival rate is only 10%. This indicates how crucial early detection is in the treatment of liver cancer. 

Spreading Awareness Helps

Liver cancer awareness is a critical part of protecting people. Technology is changing how we view all cancers, including cancers of the liver. These innovations in early detection have the potential to save millions of lives and reduce cancer’s heavy cost and emotional burden on society. If you or a loved one are at risk or show symptoms associated with liver cancer, don’t wait, be proactive with your health and get tested. It can be as simple as a blood test.

About Justin Chen Li
Justin Chen Li is a founding member of Helio Genomics, an Irvine-based cancer diagnostics firm that’s one of the better-funded medtech companies in Orange County. He oversaw the company’s soft launch of its first product, HelioLiver, via a commercial partnership with $1.3 billion-valued Fulgent Genetics Inc. (Nasdaq: FLGT), led acquisitions that increased the company’s lab space, and closed an oversubscribed $35 million Series B1 funding round led by Fulgent.

What You Should Know:

– Today, Intelerad, a leading global provider of enterprise medical imaging solutions, announced its acquisition of PenRad, a software provider for enhancing productivity for breast imaging and lung screening.

– The acquisition expands Intelerad’s product offerings for mammography and lung analytics, ensuring radiologists, technologists and other healthcare professionals can drive greater productivity and meet higher oncology screening demand, while improving patient care. 

Expanding Breast Imaging and Lung Screening Capabilities

The mammography market is expected to increase by more than 20% in the next several years, while the lung cancer diagnostics market is expected to reach $3.4B by 2026. Moreover, cancer screenings, and most notably, mammograms, drastically decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic as many healthcare facilities were temporarily closed and others faced severe staffing shortages. As the demand for scans continues to rise to pre-pandemic levels, innovative tools and technologies are critical to ensuring providers can meet the influx of patients, and that such screenings and scans are readily available to further improve overall health outcomes.

Founded in 1995, PenRad’s three core product offerings – PenRad for breast imaging, PenLung for lung screening, and PenTrac for patient tracking and reporting – have a proven track record of eliminating overhead costs, decreasing liability exposure and increasing patient satisfaction for innovative enterprise systems and diagnostic imaging centers and facilities. With the company’s next-generation technology and dedicated client support, PenRad is leading the way in automated diagnostic radiology.   With the acquisition of PenRad, Intelerad is now at the front lines of care as demand surges.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

What You Should Know:

– Imagene AI, an emerging leader in the field of AI-based precision medicine for cancer, today announced it raised $21.5 million, comprising $3M in seed funding led by Blumberg Capital and an $18.5M Series A round led by renowned technology-driven cancer medicine investors Larry Ellison, Dr. David Agus, and AI imaging space pioneer Eyal Gura.

– The use of AI-based molecular testing in cancer diagnostics is revolutionizing patient care by offering a new level of personalized, affordable therapeutics that are as efficient as it is scalable.

New Standard for Biomarker Detection

Using only a digitized biopsy image, Imagene’s AI diagnostic technology delivers real-time molecular analysis, setting a new standard by increasing the level of accuracy and reducing the time required for results, from several weeks to just two minutes. Imagene also drives a new approach for a wider scope of treatment response-prediction that encapsulates the uniqueness of each patient, bringing cancer care closer to reaching the full potential of precision medicine.

Imagene’s technology classifies patterns that cannot be seen by the human eye, evolving genomics, proteomics, and spatial insights to better understand the recurrence of specific cancers and their resistance mechanisms; this enables better stratification of patients in clinical trials and the discovery of novel targets for new drugs.

“Though cancer is a complex disease we might never fully understand, AI is bringing us closer to considering all relevant parameters that affect it, allowing a move towards theragnostics – a personal treatment strategy that combines therapeutics with diagnostics,” said Dr. Agus, one of the world’s leading physicians and the co-founder of several pioneering precision medicine companies. “Imagene’s technology can unlock precise and crucial information in real time, changing the way cancer is diagnosed and treated.”

What You Should Know:

– CancerIQ, a Chicago-based platform powering early cancer detection and prevention across broad patient populations, announced today it closed a $14M Series B financing round.

– The Series B round was co-led by Merck Global Health Innovation Fund (Merck GHI) and Amgen Ventures with participation from McKesson Ventures, OSF Ventures (the investment arm of OSF HealthCare, a current CancerIQ customer), and HealthX Ventures.

Inequality in Preventative Cancer

Systemic access barriers have created stark inequality when it comes to preventive cancer care in the United States. For example, Black women are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stages of breast cancer and 41% more likely to die of the disease than white women. These issues are compounded by the 9.5 million screenings missed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to an increase in late-stage cancer diagnoses that are more costly and have a greater impact on quality of life and outcomes than early-stage diagnoses.

Proactive Approach to Cancer Care – Precision Prevention

Founded in 2013 by Olufunmilayo (Funmi) Olopade, MD and Feyi Olopade Ayodele, CancerIQ’s precision health platform, which is being used by clinicians at more than 180 locations across the country, makes it easy to determine a patient’s individual risk of cancer-based on family history, genetics, behavior, and other factors, and then connect them to the corresponding care pathways. Those pathways range from MRIs, prophylactic surgeries and vaccinations to at-home screening kits, multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests, lifestyle interventions and other services such as clinical trials, educational materials, and social resources. CancerIQ is embedded directly into EMR workflows so clinicians in any care setting have the latest genomics research, clinical guidelines, and life sciences innovations at their fingertips.

CancerIQ plans to use the latest round of funding to grow its precision health platform, strengthen its partnership ecosystem, and expand its health system network. Following a recent series of key executive hires, the company also plans to hire 50 team members to meet the rising demand for more efficient and innovative cancer prevention services.

“CancerIQ’s vision is to end cancer as we know it by eliminating health disparities and democratizing access to the latest advances in cancer early detection and prevention,” added Feyi Olopade Ayodele, Co-founder and CEO of CancerIQ. “We started by making genetic testing more accessible and connecting patients to the right preventive services at the right time. This latest round of funding will help CancerIQ reach more patients and connect to more innovations that promise to transform cancer from a deadly disease to a manageable condition.”

What You Should Know:

– Coming out of stealth, Notable Labs, a pioneer and developer of predictive precision medicines, is acquiring worldwide development and commercial rights to volasertib, a PLK-1 inhibitor in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) from Oncoheroes.

– Notable will leverage its high-fidelity Predictive Precision Medicines Platform to identify and select volasertib-responsive patients prior to their treatment and fast-track volasertib’s clinical development in this patient population.

– Notable’s proprietary platform was built upon deep expertise across therapeutics, diagnostics, software, engineering, machine learning and automation. It quickly determines the response profile of individual patients prior to their cancer treatment, allowing for selective enrollment of predicted clinical responders into clinical trials.

License Agreement

Under terms of the agreement, Notable will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize volasertib in leukemias, lymphomas and other adult cancer indications.  Oncoheroes will retain the license for the development and commercialization of volasertib in other pediatric indications. Financial terms of this deal are not disclosed.

Predictive Precision Medicines

Notable represents a new way to develop therapies – with data and analytics behind it – and the company’s data is supported by a recent Stanford study showing a 92% accuracy in predicting patient response. Traditional precision medicine uses biomarkers and genetic screening to improve development success. It works but in the big picture, it has decreased failure only moderately – from 96.6% to 95%. Notable’s platform was built upon the team’s deep expertise in therapeutics, diagnostics, software, engineering, machine learning and automation. 

“Volasertib represents an exciting milestone towards fulfilling Notable’s mission to deliver life-changing therapies precisely to those who will benefit, and leads the way in a new era of predictive precision medicine,” said Thomas Bock, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Notable. “We targeted and licensed volasertib because of its compelling performance on our Predictive Precision Medicine Platform and as an important addition to our growing clinical pipeline. We plan to fast-track volasertib’s development with phase 2/3 clinical trials in AML and other cancers, selectively enrolling patients who are predicted to respond.”

Mark Toland, CEO of Corindus Vascular Robotics (acquired by Siemens for $1.1B last year), has announced his departure and will be joining BioStar Capital, a health-tech venture capital group focused on cardiovascular and orthopedic medical devices. As a partner and entrepreneur in residence, Mark will help to identify and develop innovative companies leveraging AI, deep learning, robotics, and other transformative technologies that address a wide range of unmet needs. The BioStar team has invested in over 30 medical device startups – including Corindus – with nearly half acquired by major medical device manufacturers, including Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and Covidien.

Life sciences venture capitalist Jeanne Cunicelli will be promoted effective Jan. 1, 2021, to president of UPMC Enterprises—the innovation, venture capital, and commercialization arm of leading health system UPMC. Currently, executive vice president of UPMC Enterprises, she will succeed Tal Heppenstall, who is retiring from this role.  A former managing director at Bay City Capital in San Francisco, Cunicelli joined UPMC in 2017 to lead UPMC Enterprises’ translational science efforts. She has built a team of more than 20 scientific and investment professionals to accelerate the translation of ground-breaking research into medical advances that dramatically improve patient care.  

Nordic Consulting names Jeff Buss as the company’s first-ever Chief Information Officer (CIO). Buss is a former Navy Captain and EY Alumni with a storied 27-year career in IT operations and cybersecurity. His experience ranges from running and defending one of the largest global IT operations in the world, the Department of Defense Information Network, to advising America’s top banks on cybersecurity.  

Experity, a provider of clinical and practice management software to the urgent care space names Tim Dybvig as its senior vice president of patient engagement. This appointment follows Experity’s recent acquisition of Dybvig’s previous company, Calibrater Health. In his new role, Dybvig will oversee Experity’s patient engagement offerings, providing strategic direction on innovation and vision, new product development, design, competitiveness, and in-market excellence.

b.well Connected Health names leaders John J. (“JJ”) Ostlund Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Imran Quereshi Chief Information Officer (CIO). Ostlund previously served CTO of Expedia Group’s global vacation rental platform, Vrbo®, where he led a team of product engineers and scientists in perfecting an online marketplace serving millions of travelers with millions of vacation rental homes. Ostlund earned the CTO role after serving as Senior Vice President of Technology for Expedia before the company’s acquisition of Vrbo in 2015.

Qureshi was previously Chief Data Science Officer of Clarify Health Solutions, a pioneer in machine learning-enabled care optimization. Before that, Qureshi was chief software development officer for Health Catalyst, a provider of data and analytics technology, where he led the engineering team that built the company’s Data Operating System (DOS).

Cancer diagnostics company Biofidelity Ltd, appoints Stephen Miller as Chief Commercial Officer, based in the US. Stephen’s appointment follows former Roche executive, Heiner Dreismann, joining the Board as Chairman. 

EvidenceCare names Bo Bartholomew as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to accelerate growth. Prior to EvidenceCare Bo was the CEO and founder of PharmMD (now AdhereHealth), a leader in medication therapy management services. He served as chief revenue officer at Shearwater Health and is a board member at several health tech ventures.

FundamentalVR, pioneers of immersive HapticVR™ surgical training technology appoints Kim Parkins as Vice President of Client Solutions & Partnerships for North America. In his role, Parkins will build and oversee relationships with residency programs, medical societies as well as device and pharmaceutical partners in North America that utilize the company’s surgical training platform, Fundamental Surgery.

Catapult Health has promoted Julie Dimoulakis to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer. Julie’s expanded scope of responsibilities now includes sales, marketing, client success, clinical services, technology, and operations.

OODA Health has appointed Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA to its Board of Directors. Dr. Klasko is the President of Philadelphia-based Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health.

W2O expands its global leadership team with the addition of eight industry veterans, addressing key areas in healthcare including analytics and digital transformation.

The newest industry veterans to join the W2O team are:

• Julie Adrian – Global Chief Experience Officer
• John Capodanno – President, Financial, Corporate & Capital Market Communications
• Nikki Levy – Practice Leader, Advocacy Relations
• David Magrini – President, CRM and Marketing Solutions
• Jane Petrino – Practice Leader, Communications Strategy
• Marlena Edwards – Head of People and Performance
• Carrie Galli – Head of Organizational Growth and Planning
• Jonathan Robbins – Head of Talent Acquisition

Dr. Nicole Christian-Brathwaite joins InSight + Regroup’s leadership team as Senior Vice President and Medical Director for Scheduled Services and Inpathy.  Dr. Christian-Brathwaite has extensive clinical experience treating children, adolescents, adults, and families, especially those from diverse backgrounds, and has worked in multiple psychiatric settings including outpatient, inpatient, partial day programs, community-based programs, and intensive outpatient programs. 

Craig Bloom has been named Chief Growth Officer for Intercept TeleMed to move their ICUs to a higher standard of patient care and efficiency. Bloom is also charged with growing Intercept’s burgeoning tele-consultative services that offer health systems virtual specialists. These additional consultative services complement the care within the ICU in order to provide a full spectrum of coordinated care to the sickest patients.

What You Should Know:

– UK-based Biofidelity raises $12 million in Series A funding to accelerate the launch of disruptive cancer diagnostic technology.

– The funding will be used to bring technology to market, enabling a dramatic simplification of precision genetic testing to ensure many more cancer patients receive optimal diagnosis and therapy.

Biofidelity Ltd, a Cambridge, UK-based cancer diagnostics company, today announced it has raised $12 million in Series A funding led by BlueYard Capital and backed by experienced investors including Longwall Ventures and Agilent Technologies, a global leader in life sciences and diagnostics.

Founded in 2019, Biofidelity is initially focusing on the diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer, with potential across a broad range of cancers as well as applications in the detection of resistance to therapy and disease recurrence.

Biofidelity’s disruptive technology combines fast, affordable, easy to interpret results, in order to dramatically simplify genetic testing while providing all the key benefits of next-generation sequencing (NGS). The Company estimates that 95% of cancer patients are currently excluded from NGS due to high cost, complexity, and slow turnaround times.

Biofidelity provides clinically actionable data based on ultra-sensitive detection of the markers recommended in cancer treatment guidelines, enabling oncologists to prescribe the right cancer drug at the right time to many more patients. Straightforward adoption of existing infrastructure is expected to greatly increase the number of laboratories able to offer superior cancer diagnostics.

Recent Traction

In January, Biofidelity announced the successful completion of a study to detect key lung cancer mutations in collaboration with Agilent Technologies. The collaboration, using an assay developed by Biofidelity, demonstrated an improvement in sensitivity of 50 times that achieved with current FDA-approved PCR-based diagnostics. This matched the sensitivity of specialized NGS assays, which require error-correction technology while providing a dramatic simplification of workflows from more than 100 steps to just four. Assays were performed using standard laboratory instrumentation, demonstrating the potential for straightforward adoption of Biofidelity’s panels in decentralized testing laboratories around the world.

The company plans to use the funding to accelerate the development and clinical validation of oncology panels for treatment selection and patient monitoring in oncology, and to bring these assays rapidly to market through direct sale, partnering, and collaboration.