5 Companies Paving the Way for Personalised Care.

The amount of research and data within the healthcare sector continues to grow every year.

Data is truly valuable. And having a lot of it is great too. But it becomes even more valuable when you have the ability to interpret it, process it and gain insight from it. This is where bioinformatics comes in.

Combining the use of large molecular biology data sets, computer science and artificial intelligence (AI), alongside with microbiology and genomics, bioinformatics can aid in novel drug discovery and personalised medical treatments.

In a previous article, I wrote in more detail about what bioinformatics is and its potential in transforming personalised care. But this time I wanted to go down a slightly different route. 

Through working in the data science and bioinformatics markets, I’ve seen the latest innovations, developments and growth happening across the space. So much so that I wanted to highlight the work and progress being made by some of the top companies in bioinformatics.

QuartzBio is a company always on the hunt to extract hidden information from data and results generated off the back of clinical and translational research.

The company helps their clients generate value from large-scale heterogeneous biomedical data. Through using their AI platform, it’s possible to analyse biological and clinical data streams to extract knowledge and insights to accelerate drug development.

QuartzBio recently became a part of Precision for Medicine, a division of Precision Medicine Group. The move expanded biomarker data management and translational informatics services across the globe.

As multiomic data grows in quantity and complexity, collaborations like this are a giant leap forward for customers and the industry.

Next up is Congenica – a world leading software for the analysis, interpretation and reporting of genomic data.

The company’s platform helps maximise efficiencies, analytical yield and confidence in medical cases by rapidly transforming data into actionable insights to improve outcomes.

Congenica’s scalable software for end-to-end genomic analysis interprets next-generation sequencing data in as little as five minutes, guiding treatment decisions and improving care to people.

The company recently agreed upon a strategic partnership to support genomic analysis expansion in Asia with Camtech Diagnostics. Camtech provide total solutions to the biodefence, food and clinical diagnostics sectors.

In the new agreement, Camtech is responsible for the marketing, distribution and sales of Congenica’s clinical decision support platform in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. With existing presence in China already, this latest agreement will aid in the continued expansion in the rare disease market in the Asia-Pacific region.

Continuing with collaborations across the sector brings us to Cyted – a developer and provider of AI technology and digital diagnostic infrastructure to enable earlier detection of diseases.

In collaboration with Medtronic, Pathognomics and University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Cyted announced this exciting project late last year.

The partnership launched the first clinical procedures for the early detection of Barrett’s Oesophagus. Using a Cytosponge cell collection device by Medtronic, once swallowed, the gelatine capsule dissolves in the stomach allowing a sponge to expand. The sponge is then collected from the stomach, sampling cells from the surface of the oesophagus. The cells and biomarkers associated with Barrett’s Oesophagus are then analysed using the Cyted pathology platform.

Early detection of cancer is key to transforming patient outcomes. Collaborations like this offer a critical next step in offering a simple, non-endoscopic test with rapid results to identify those patients who need further investigation.

Another company looking to transform cancer treatment is MultiplAI. The company offers a whole blood screening test using RNA Sequencing and AI to detect virtually any complex diseases, including cardiovascular disorders and cancer.

By bringing together AI algorithms, cost-effective sequencing and remote medicine, MultiplAI can more easily detect cardiovascular and other complex diseases, as well as establishing a more effective, personalised treatment.

The company recently received funding from Illumina, a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of life science tools and integrated systems for large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function.

Alongside the investment, MultiplAI will have access to seed investment, access to Illumina sequencing systems and reagents, as well as business management, genomics know-how and fully operational lab spaces.

Another company looking to solve the challenges of precision medicine and drive better outcomes for people with cancer is Syapse. This company uses real-world evidence and in partnership with health systems, life sciences companies and regulators.

The company focuses on clinical and molecular data to generate high-quality insights from complex and previously unstructured data, enabling providers to operationalise precision medicine.

Syapse was also responsible for setting up the Syapse Learning Health Network, an international network of healthcare providers sharing real-world data to support clinical decisions and by fostering collaborations among participants. These collaborations are enabled by a secure platform of shared de-identified data that is standardized and normalized across the Learning Health Network consisting of 25 states, 457 hospitals and over 1300 community oncologists.

Through this network, Syapse recently announced the renewal of its strategic collaboration with Pfizer to better understand the impact of their medicines. The use of real-world data has the ability to truly advance care for cancer and other rare diseases.

The Future

The use of bioinformatics across the medical sector is proving to be truly valuable and its success is apparent from the development, investment and collaboration across the space.

With so many exciting companies getting in on the success, the stage is set for bioinformatics to revolutionise patient outcomes and care for those suffering with cancer or other rare diseases.

If you’d like to learn more about these companies or would like to discuss the bioinformatics space further, please get in touch. My email is Ben.Paice@lifesci-cm.com.

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