CytoReason, an Israeli company developing computational disease models for more efficient drug discovery and development, today announced a collaboration with German multinational science and technology company, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, to profile one of its leading immuno-oncology drugs.
Multiple drugs created to cure the same disease have varying effects on certain patient populations depending on the drug’s mechanism of action (MoA) and on patients’ characteristics. CytoReason will use its machine learning platform and proprietary computational disease models to verify Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s therapeutic hypothesis, providing a deeper analysis of the drug’s MoA.
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The company will analyze data from hundreds of patients from phase 1 and 2 studies to identify relevant patient populations, as well as prioritize tumor types for which the drug may be most effective against.
“We are thrilled to be working with the talented team at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany,” said David Harel, CEO and Co-founder of CytoReason. “Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s rich medical database and expertise in immuno-oncology will enable us to help create more accurate models of the disease with CytoReason’s advanced AI technology. This collaboration might help identify which type of tumor the drug will be most effective for, and has the potential to save the lives of millions who suffer from cancer.”
CytoReason is a technology startup that has developed a computational model of the human body. The company collects proprietary data from pharmaceutical companies and uses it to simulate human diseases – tissue by tissue, cell by cell. With CytoReason’s massive database and AI-led platform, pharma and biotech companies can identify new opportunities, shorten trial phases, reduce development costs and increase the likelihood of approval. To date, six of the world’s top ten pharma companies use CytoReason’s technology.