Helomics subsidiary begins sequencing retrospective ovarian cancer cases from UPMC-Magee collaboration, advancing POAI’s CancerQuest 2020 initiative
Helomics subsidiary begins sequencing retrospective ovarian cancer cases from UPMC-Magee collaboration, advancing POAI’s CancerQuest 2020 initiative
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 31, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Predictive Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: POAI) (“Predictive Oncology” or “the Company”), focused on applying artificial intelligence (“AI”) to personalized medicine and drug discovery, today announces that its Helomics subsidiary has begun to sequence tumor cases from its UPMC Magee collaboration (http://nnw.fm/4uKXL).
Helomics’ partnership with the UPMC Magee Women’s Hospital focuses on analyzing the genomic and drug response profiles of women with ovarian cancer to build AI-driven predictive models’ terms of therapy response. This collaboration is a key benchmark in Predictive Oncology’s Cancer Quest 2020 project as it takes a retrospective look at around 400 ovarian cancer cases that were profiled for drug response by Helomics, for which UMPC Magee has outcome data.
“These retrospective ovarian cancer cases were profiled Helomics as early as 2010; hence, we have 10 years’ worth of drug treatment data, survival and other outcome measures we are gathering from Magee’s clinical databases,” stated Helomics CTO Dr. Mark Collins. “We are now sequencing these cases, looking at both the tumor mutations (genome) as well as tumor gene expression (transcriptome) to build a comprehensive multi-omic picture of the tumor. We are also using deep learning on histopathology images of the tumor tissue (tissue-omics) to add an additional dimension to this multi-omic profile. We believe the combination of the rich multi-omic profile of the tumor and clinical outcome data will allow us to build an AI-driven model of ovarian cancer capable of predicting the tumor drug response and patient outcome (prognosis).”
This first AI-driven predictive model will be highly valuable in partnerships with pharma companies to drive the discovery of new targeted therapies for ovarian cancer. Once clinically validated, Predictive Oncology expects it will use this predictive model for clinical decision support, helping guide oncologists to better target therapies based on the patient’s tumor profile.
About Predictive Oncology
Predictive Oncology (NASDAQ: POAI) is an AI-driven company focused on applying artificial intelligence to personalized medicine and drug discovery. The Company applies smart tumor profiling and its AI platform to extensive genomic and biomarker patient data sets to predict clinical outcomes and, most importantly, improve patient outcomes for cancer patients of today and tomorrow.
Predictive Oncology currently has approximately 150,000 clinically validated cases on its molecular information platform, 38,000+ specific to ovarian cancer. The Company’s data is highly differentiated, having both drug response data and access to historical outcome data from patients. Predictive Oncology intends to generate additional sequence data from these tumor samples to deliver on the clear unmet market need across the pharmaceutical industry for a multi-omic approach to new drug development.
For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.predictive-oncology.com.
Contact:
Gerald Vardzel Jr.
Helomics Corporation, President
A division of Predictive Oncology Inc.
91 43rd Street, Suite 110
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15201
412.432.1508
GVardzel@Helomics.com
Corporate Communications:
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www.NetworkNewsWire.com
212.418.1217 Office
Editor@NetworkWire.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain of the matters discussed in the press release contain forward-looking statements that involve material risks to and uncertainties in the Company’s business that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements made herein. Such risks and uncertainties include (i) risks related to the recent merger with Helomics, including the fact that the combined company will not be able to continue operating without additional financing; possible failure to realize anticipated benefits of the merger; costs associated with the merger may be higher than expected; the merger may result in disruption of the Company’s and Helomics’ existing businesses, distraction of management and diversion of resources; and the market price of the Company’s common stock may decline as a result of the merger; (ii) risks related to our partnerships with other companies, including the need to negotiate the definitive agreements; possible failure to realize anticipated benefits of these partnerships; and costs of providing funding to our partner companies, which may never be repaid or provide anticipated returns; and (iii) other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company that include, among other things, current negative operating cash flows and a need for additional funding to finance our operating plan; the terms of any further financing, which may be highly dilutive and may include onerous terms; unexpected costs and operating deficits, and lower than expected sales and revenues; sales cycles that can be longer than expected, resulting in delays in projected sales or failure to make such sales; uncertain willingness and ability of customers to adopt new technologies and other factors that may affect further market acceptance, if our product is not accepted by our potential customers, it is unlikely that we will ever become profitable; adverse economic conditions; adverse results of any legal proceedings; the volatility of our operating results and financial condition; inability to attract or retain qualified senior management personnel, including sales and marketing personnel; our ability to establish and maintain the proprietary nature of our technology through the patent process, as well as our ability to possibly license from others patents and patent applications necessary to develop products; Predictive Oncology’s ability to implement its long range business plan for various applications of its technology; Predictive Oncology’s ability to enter into agreements with any necessary marketing and/or distribution partners and with any strategic or joint venture partners; the impact of competition, the obtaining and maintenance of any necessary regulatory clearances applicable to applications of Predictive Oncology’s technology; and management of growth and other risks and uncertainties that may be detailed from time to time in the Company’s reports filed with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities and does not purport to be an analysis of Predictive Oncology’s financial position. See Predictive Oncology’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and subsequent reports and other filings at www.sec.gov.
