Envisagenics, Cancer Research UK, Queen Mary University Collaborate on AML Drug R&D

Original from: Genomeweb

Bioinformatics company Envisagenics said Tuesday that it has formed a research collaboration with Queen Mary University of London and the technology-transfer arm of Cancer Research UK to explore the role of "alternative" splicing in hematopoietic cancer.

Envisagenics, a 2014 spinout from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to support development of therapeutics for RNA splicing diseases. As part of this collaboration, the New York-based firm will apply its SpliceCore AI platform to Queen Mary University's collection of de-identified multiomics data from patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

"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," principal investigator Ana Rio-Machin, a postdoctoral researcher at Queen Mary's Barts Cancer Institute, said in a statement.

Cancer Research Horizons, the investment and innovation division of Cancer Research UK, is also providing data to the collaboration.

"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," Martin Akerman, chief technology officer and cofounder of Envisagenics, added. "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."

Source: Envisagenics, Cancer Research UK, Queen Mary University Collaborate on AML Drug R&D