Aitia and Gustave Roussy Join Forces to Identify the Fundamental Biological Causes of Multiple Human Cancers

June 5, 2025 |

4 min read

Deep Knowledge of Disease Causality Can Lead to Transformative New Treatment Approaches that Significantly Improve Patient Outcomes

VILLEJUIF, France and SOMERVILLE, Mass., June 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Aitia, the leader in computationally discovering and applying new knowledge of biological causes of disease to pharmaceutical discovery and development, today announced a collaboration with Gustave Roussy, the premier cancer research institute in Europe. The new partners will collaborate to transform Gustave Roussy's extensive cancer patient data into human "Gemini Digital Twins" – computer-based in silico models that reveal the hidden underlying causes of complex diseases like cancer to drive the discovery and clinical development of effective new therapies.

Cancer (the overall name given to >200 different diseases characterized by out-of-control cell growth) is second only to cardiovascular disease as a major cause of death worldwide. While overall cancer death rates have decreased in recent years, cancer rates have been rising in young adults, and incidence rates are returning to pre-COVID pandemic levels. Although there have been a few notable successes, most cancers still have limited if any effective treatment options, including many brain, pancreatic and ovarian cancers. The Gustave Roussy-Aitia agreement announced today seeks to bring an end to that devastating reality for many cancer types with ongoing high unmet medical need.

"If we identify the specific cancer-causing changes buried in the massively complex biology that leads to diseases like cancer, we can also identify a clear path to the 'next generation' of effective therapeutic interventions," said Colin Hill, CEO and co-founder of Aitia. "Informed by Gustave Roussy's extensive database of de-identified human multiomic and patient outcome data, our causal AI discovery engine and the Gemini Digital Twins it builds, reveals the fundamental knowledge needed for successful drug discovery and clinical development."

"Gustave Roussy is excited to work with Aitia to realize our shared mission of accelerating and applying new knowledge of cancer biology to its successful treatment," said Prof. Fabrice Barlesi, CEO of Gustave Roussy. "Aitia's ability to accurately model complex biological systems from de-identified human multiomic and patient outcome data should give us a significant advantage in the battle against these devastating diseases and bring renewed hope to cancer patients and their families worldwide."

About Aitia

Aitia seeks to build a comprehensive understanding of the complex molecular biological systems underlying human health and diseases, and to collaborate with others to apply that knowledge to a next generation of effective therapeutics. The company has built a powerful causal AI engine (REFS^®) that uses high-performance computational power to turn massive amounts of multiomic and patient outcome data into fully realized, unbiased and causal in silico models of human disease (called "Gemini Digital Twins") that can be used to discover truly rational new causal human drug targets and biomarkers, candidate patient subpopulations for clinical trials, and optimal drug combinations for virtually any human disease or condition.

To date, Aitia's powerful platform has uncovered deep biological insights that accelerate pharmaceutical R&D, which have led directly to the discoveries in Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Huntington's Disease, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer, with many others in development. Aitia's global partners to date include multiple pharmaceutical companies, several leading academic research and medical centers, medical societies, premier multiomic data companies, and patient advocacy groups. For further information, please visit www.aitia.com.

About Gustave Roussy

Ranked as the leading French and European Cancer Centre and fourth in the world, Gustave Roussy is a centre with comprehensive expertise and is devoted entirely to patients suffering with cancer. The Institute is a founding member of the Paris Saclay Cancer Cluster. It is a source of diagnostic and therapeutic advances. It caters to almost 50,000 patients per year and its approach is one that integrates research, patient care and teaching. It is specialized in the treatment of rare cancers and complex tumors and it treats all cancers in patients of any age. Its care is personalized and combines the most advanced medical methods with an appreciation of the patient's human requirements. In addition to the quality of treatment offered, the physical, psychological and social aspects of the patient's life are respected. 4,100 professionals work on its two campuses: Villejuif and Chevilly-Larue. Gustave Roussy brings together the skills that are essential for the highest quality research in oncology: 40% of patients treated are included in clinical studies.

For further information: www.gustaveroussy.fr/en, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Bluesky.