Envisagenics, Cancer Research Horizons, and Queen Mary University of London announce strategic collaboration agreement
- Published date:
- December 13 2022
Under a CRUK-funded project, researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have completed multi-omics, profiling a cohort of patients with poor risk AML. Now, Cancer Research Horizons and QMUL are collaborating with Envisagenics to better understand the role of alternative splicing in haematopoietic cancers.
By analysing this de-identified patient-derived data using the Envisagenics SpliceCore® AI platform, it is hoped that the insights will help derive new hypotheses to accelerate the development of therapeutics and diagnostics for this under-served population of patients with AML.
NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Envisagenics, an Artificial Intelligence ("AI")-driven biotechnology company that delivers therapies for RNA splicing diseases, today announced a research collaboration agreement with Cancer Research Horizons, Cancer Research UK's innovation engine, and Queen Mary University of London. Envisagenics will leverage its SpliceCore® AI platform and use Queen Mary's de-identified data to further explore the role of alternative splicing in hematopoietic cancers for research and development.
"As an AI-driven biotechnology company, data plays a critical role in facilitating the discovery of quality candidates. With the support of Cancer Research Horizons' team and its principal investigators, we are thrilled to partner with organizations that have comprehensive data packages which are vital for reaching the right patients sooner," said Martin Akerman, Ph.D., Envisagenics' CTO and Co-founder. "Through our SpliceCore platform, we will continue to enhance our data-driven R&D strategy and acquire insights with Cancer Research Horizons' rich datasets to ultimately deepen our understanding of complex tumor biology and accelerate the development of therapeutics for patients with hematopoietic cancers."
Tony Hickson, Chief Business Officer at Cancer Research Horizons, said: "We are at an exciting crossroads where researchers and industry are realizing the great potential in combining the wealth of healthcare data within our network, with advanced computational approaches to drive innovation towards new therapies and diagnostics for patients. We are delighted to be collaborating with Envisagenics to explore the role of alternative splicing in a subset of particularly poorly served hematopoietic cancers and hope to uncover new avenues to bring improved treatment options to patients faster."
Ana Rio-Machin, Ph.D., lead researcher on the project from Queen Mary's Barts Cancer Institute said: "We have completed multi-omics profiling that combines genomics, proteomics and drug screening, in samples from more than 50 patients with an aggressive type of blood cancer called acute myeloid leukemia ("AML"). This collaboration will allow us to explore the RNA splicing landscape in our cohort of primary AML samples by applying Envisagenics' expertise and bioinformatics tools to our multi-omics data. We hope this new analysis and the integration with our previous findings will shed light on the pathogenesis of this disease and provide significant preclinical data to support precision medicine approaches for difficult-to-treat hematopoietic cancers."
About Envisagenics
Envisagenics is an Artificial Intelligence-driven biotechnology company that focuses on the discovery of novel RNA splicing variants that cause cancer and other genetic diseases. Its principal technology is the SpliceCore® discovery platform. The platform re-envisions the human genome with a validated exon-centric approach, combined with machine learning algorithms and high-performance computing. It is up to 250 times more likely to discover novel targets than gene-centric discovery tools. Using innovative technology and RNA analysis expertise, Envisagenics accelerates the development of highly specific therapeutics that modulate RNA splicing events that drive pathogenesis of oncology, neurodegenerative, and metabolic disorders.
Envisagenics partners with biopharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to advance their drug discovery capabilities. Envisagenics also has its own internally developed RNA therapeutic programs. Envisagenics is a spin-out of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and a proud woman- and minority-led recipient of several grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Cancer Institute.
For more information, please visit www.envisagenics.com. Follow us on – Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube.
About Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London is a leading research-intensive university with a difference – one that opens the doors of opportunity to anyone with the potential to succeed. Ranked 117 in the world and 1st in England for social mobility, the University has over 32,000 students on degree programmes and approximately 5,000 members of staff. We are a truly global university: over 170 nationalities are represented on our five campuses in London, and we also have a presence in Malta, Paris, Singapore and China.
About Cancer Research Horizons
Cancer Research Horizons is the innovation engine of Cancer Research UK – the world's largest charitable funder of cancer research. We bring together world-leading minds, bold ideas and the right partners to bridge the gap between academic research and taking drugs to market. We focus on the tougher, more profound ideas that can lead to true innovation, translating them into effective treatments and diagnostics for cancer patients. To date, we've played an instrumental role in forming over 60 spin-out companies. We've helped bring 11 cancer drugs to market, borne out of Cancer Research UK's pioneering research. Through these drugs, we have enabled in excess of 6 million courses of treatment for cancer patients across the world. With access to Cancer Research UK's network of 4000 exceptional researchers, and £300+ million of annual research spend, we're a powerful partner in the fight to conquer cancer.
By uniting our commercial partnerships and therapeutic innovation capabilities, Cancer Research Horizons is uniquely placed to support translational funding, licensing and collaboration, spin out creation, and offer a full spectrum of drug discovery and clinical capabilities. Every penny we make goes back into funding the next bold steps, to help bring forward the day when all cancers are conquered.
Contacts
Envisagenics Media Contact
Bradley Harris
[email protected]
Tel: (929) 777-2001
Cancer Research Horizons Contact
Ellie Bennett
[email protected]
Tel: +44 20 3469 5370
Queen Mary University of London Contact
Sophia Prout
[email protected]
Tel: +44 07970 096 188