Precision medicine firm Sophia Genetics and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have announced a strategic collaboration that unites Sophia’s AI-powered analytics with MD Anderson's clinical and scientific expertise.
The new partnership will aim to accelerate data-driven cancer care through new tools that can accurately analyse, interpret and translate diagnostic results into clinical practice.
As part of the collaboration, MD Anderson and Sophia Genetics are launching a series of research and development programmes and co-developing an advanced next-generation sequencing oncology test. Built on the advanced AI algorithms of the Sophia DDM Platform, the new co-developed test aims to translate complex multimodal data into actionable insights with greater speed and scale. MD Anderson researchers will tap Sophia Genetics’ AI technologies to create bioinformatics pipelines that enable clinicians to rapidly interpret complex RNA-sequencing data to guide diagnosis and treatment for patients with cancer.
Donna Hansel MD PhD, Division Head of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at MD Anderson, said: "Cancer research has evolved rapidly, and we have more health data available than ever before. Our collaboration with Sophia Genetics reflects how our laboratory is evolving and integrating advanced analytics and AI to better interpret complex molecular information. This collaboration will expand our ability to translate high-dimensional data into insights that can meaningfully advance research and precision oncology."
In addition, MD Anderson and Sophia Genetics will jointly launch a series of research and development programs to explore new ways to characterise tumour evolution in real time, to strengthen the reliability and reproducibility of complex genomic testing, and to enhance the ability to identify optimal clinical trials or research avenues for individual patients. This multi-layered program is designed to fuel next-generation scientific discovery, empowering clinicians and researchers with tools to better understand the dynamic nature of cancer. The collaborative work at MD Anderson will be led by Shashikant Kulkarni PhD, Deputy Division Head for Molecular Pathology, and J Bryan MD, Assistant Professor, both in the Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
Philippe Menu MD PhD, Chief Product Officer and Chief Medical Officer, at Sophia Genetics, added: "This collaboration with MD Anderson amplifies our shared ambition to push the boundaries of what is possible in cancer research. With Sophia DDM as a unifying analytical layer, we are enabling new discoveries, accelerating breakthroughs in precision oncology and, most importantly, enabling patients around the globe to benefit from these innovations by bringing leading technologies to all geographies quickly and at scale."