BCI researcher part of Strategic Collaboration Agreement with Queen Mary, Envisagenics and Cancer Research Horizons

Queen Mary University of London is part of a research collaboration agreement with Envisagenics, an Artificial Intelligence ("AI")-driven biotechnology company that delivers therapies for RNA splicing diseases, and Cancer Research Horizons, Cancer Research UK's innovation engine. Envisagenics will leverage its SpliceCore® AI platform and use Queen Mary's de-identified data to further explore the role of alternative splicing in haematopoietic cancers for research and development.

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 leukeamia ("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 haematopoietic cancers."

"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 organisations 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 tumour biology and accelerate the development of therapeutics for patients with haematopoietic cancers."

Tony Hickson, Chief Business Officer at Cancer Research Horizons, said:

"We are at an exciting crossroads where researchers and industry are realising 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 haematopoietic cancers and hope to uncover new avenues to bring improved treatment options to patients faster."