The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and SOPHiA GENETICS today announced a strategic collaboration that unites SOPHiA GENETICS’ AI-powered analytics with MD Anderson’s clinical and scientific expertise to accelerate data-driven cancer care through new tools that can accurately analyze, 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 programs 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.
“Cancer research has evolved rapidly, and we have more health data available than ever before. Our collaboration with SOPHiA GENETICS reflects how our lab is evolving and integrating advanced analytics and AI to better interpret complex molecular information,” said Donna Hansel, M.D., Ph.D., division head of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at MD Anderson. “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 characterize tumor 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, Ph.D., deputy division head for Molecular Pathology, and J. Bryan, M.D., assistant professor, both in the Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
“This collaboration with MD Anderson amplifies our shared ambition to push the boundaries of what is possible in cancer research,” said Philippe Menu, M.D., Ph.D., chief product officer and chief medical officer at SOPHiA GENETICS. “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.”