Nexomic to use Cancer Research Horizons’ colorectal cancer dataset to develop a foundation model and identify novel biomarkers
Partnership expands access to Cancer Research Horizons’ growing portfolio of deep, multi-modal, and clinically-linked cancer datasets
LONDON, UK, DATE 2026: Cancer Research Horizons, the innovation engine of Cancer Research UK, today announced a partnership with Nexomic, a precision oncology TechBio company developing AI-powered tools to improve cancer care. The agreement allows Nexomic to access S:CORT (Stratification in COloRectal cancer Trial), one of the most comprehensive multi-modal colorectal cancer datasets, comprising more than 1,750 patient profiles.
Colorectal cancer, also known as bowel cancer, is the second most common cancer type in men and third most common type in women in the UK, accounting for ~11% of new cancer cases. There are around 48,213 new cases in the UK each year, resulting in approximately 17,700 deaths.
Despite sharing the same diagnosis, patients with colorectal cancer can have fundamentally different tumour biology and treatment outcomes. Nexomic will use Cancer Research Horizons' S:CORT dataset to develop and validate its AI models, which are designed to uncover the biological drivers of treatment response and resistance in colorectal cancer. By analysing deeply characterised molecular and clinical data, Nexomic aims to identify novel biomarkers that could help predict treatment response and disease progression, enabling more precise patient stratification.
Joe Day, Senior Business Development Executive for Data & AI at Cancer Research Horizons, said: “At Cancer Research Horizons we know that securely and transparently enabling commercial access to patient data can lead to novel tools and products that can help improve patient outcomes. We are thrilled to partner with Nexomic and support the development of AI tools that could help identify which patients are most likely to benefit from specific therapies.”
Mohammad Ghoshesh, CEO of Nexomic, said: "The S:CORT dataset is key in the development of our foundation model that is designed to enable clinicians to make more informed decisions and patients to receive the right therapies. We're grateful to Cancer Research Horizons for their commitment to making this data accessible responsibly.”
Assembled from multiple UK patient cohorts, the S:CORT dataset combines deep molecular profiling with longitudinal clinical outcomes, providing a uniquely rich resource for understanding the biological factors associated with treatment response, resistance and disease progression.
The partnership is the latest example of Cancer Research Horizons expanding access to high-quality, clinically linked cancer datasets to accelerate innovation in precision oncology.
ENDS
All data partnerships adhere to Cancer Research Horizons’ Commercial Data Partnership Guiding Principles, ensuring safe and transparent use of patient-derived data with the primary aim of positive patient impact.
Cancer Research Horizons is the innovation engine of Cancer Research UK – the world's largest charitable funder of cancer research. It brings together world-leading minds, bold ideas and the right partners to bridge the gap between academic research and taking drugs to market. It focuses on the tougher, more profound ideas that can lead to true innovation, translating them into effective treatments and diagnostics for cancer patients.
To date, it has played an instrumental role in forming over 95 start-ups. It has helped bring 14 cancer drugs to market, born out of Cancer Research UK's pioneering research. Through these drugs, it has enabled in excess of 28 million courses of treatment for cancer patients across the world.
With access to Cancer Research UK's network of 4,000 exceptional researchers, and £400m of annual research spend, it is a powerful partner in the fight to conquer cancer. By uniting its commercial partnerships and therapeutic innovation capabilities, Cancer Research Horizons is uniquely placed to support translational funding, entrepreneurial development, data licensing and collaboration, spin-out creation, and offer a full spectrum of drug discovery and clinical capabilities.
Every penny it makes goes back into funding the next bold steps, to help bring forward the day when all cancers are conquered.
For more information and to get in touch with the team, visit cancerresearchhorizons.com.
Nexomic is a Dublin-based precision oncology TechBio company using frontier AI and patient multi-omic data to understand the biology behind treatment response and resistance. At its core is DeepOmic, a tumour-agnostic multi-omic AI foundation model trained on patient data from more than 30 countries. Built on this foundation, Nexomic develops solutions across the oncology lifecycle, including DISCOVER for therapeutic discovery and DECODE for de-risking oncology drug development and clinical trials.
Press office
Cancer Research Horizons
Megan Prock McGrath
CTD Communications
Data team
Joe Day
Senior Business Development Executive for Data & AI
Cancer Research Horizons
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