NEW YORK – Owkin has committed $50 million and formed a coalition with NanoString Technologies and groups at European and American research institutions to employ spatial omics technologies for advanced cancer research.
The program, called Multi Omic Spatial Atlas in Cancer, or MOSAIC, will collect 7,000 tumor samples — far more than any current spatial omics dataset, according to Owkin — then use spatial omics techniques to analyze the samples and discover immuno-oncology disease subtypes to assist in biomarker and drug discovery. The coalition will lean on Owkin's artificial intelligence-based data science technology as well as NanoString's GeoMx digital spatial profiler and CosMx spatial molecular imager platforms.
Owkin and NanoString made the announcement ahead of the opening of the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting, where they will debut MOSAIC. Participating research organizations are Institut Gustave Roussy in France, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Hillman Cancer Center, Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland, and Uniklinikum Erlangen/Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Germany.
"With MOSAIC … we are entering a new dimension for the understanding of the mechanism and interaction of tumor cells and their microenvironment. This exciting project will help us discover new therapeutic treatments for patients," Fabrice André, director of research and a professor of medical oncology at Paris-based Gustave Roussy, said in a statement.
"The MOSAIC project introduces cutting-edge healthcare technology with great potential to advance cancer prediction and treatment. It is also a demonstration of how scientific partnerships between leading academic hospitals and biotech companies are instrumental for successfully translating innovation into improved patient care," added Mauro Oddo, director of innovation and clinical research at Lausanne University Hospital.
"The convergence of spatial omics, multimodal patient data, and AI will power the next revolution in oncology research, unlocking the next wave of breakthrough treatments for patients. MOSAIC will help us and our partners make unprecedented breakthroughs in the fight against cancer," said Owkin Cofounder and CEO Thomas Clozel.