Sponsors and CROs can better prepare for clinical trials using systems biology techniques, according to Canadian AI company My Intelligent Machines (MIM).
The software-as-a-service firm, which helps life science companies create personalized therapies, made the comments this week to coincide with the launch of an “augmented intelligence” platform that it claims can more easily identify patients who are most likely to respond to candidate treatments in clinical trials.
The technology—which is billed as a systems biology and machine learning platform—allows researchers to predict good responders to new therapies with performance more than two times higher than other available methodologies, according to MIM.
“Life scientists can now independently harness the power of systems biology, artificial intelligence and their own deep human knowledge and experience in cancer biology to push the boundaries of innovation and drug discovery,” MIM CEO Sarah Jenna said.
The technology combines the MIMsight Knowledge Base—a repository of information extracted from scientific literature, public databases, multi-omic and clinical patient data—and a proprietary algorithm called GI2 that infers genetic interactions within patient tumors and immune systems.
The insights can help drug developers and CROs classify patients into subgroups, identify their molecular and clinical characteristics, predict their response to new therapies, and identify powerful therapeutic targets and biomarkers.
By helping developers to identify cancer patients most likely to respond to a particular therapy, the system increases the success rate of phase 2 and 3 clinical trials and aids exploring new potent combined therapies, MIM said.
But there are also potential benefits of the approach earlier in the drug development process. The system delivers scientific insights to support strategic decisions on indication prioritization at preclinical stage, MIM added.
The launch comes a year after MIM completed a $5 million fundraising round led by MEDTEQ+ and StandUp Ventures, with participation from Desjardins Capital, Anges Québec, Anges Québec Capital and Real Ventures.
At the time, MIM said the money would support product rollout and expansion into Canadian, European and U.S. markets, as well as hiring talent to deliver key projects to top pharma companies and hospitals.