C2i Genomics, a cancer intelligence company, today announced an extension of a collaboration with AstraZeneca.
The two companies have collaborated to evaluate the potential of whole-genome minimal residual disease (MRD) testing across solid cancers, with the goal of enhancing oncology treatment, supporting clinical trial recruitment, and monitoring.
C2i genomics has completed AstraZeneca’s BeyondBio Innovation Hub’s program for Israeli start-ups. Using artificially generated samples to reproduce varying levels of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) expected to be found in tumors, the collaboration provided early evidence that the C2i assay can sensitively detect ctDNA (down to 0.002% allelic frequency).
Building on this work, AstraZeneca will further evaluate and validate the C2i Genomics platform across a panel of patient-derived samples using their in-house sequencing capabilities and expertise.
Transforming cancer detection
The industry is continuing to transform the way cancer is detected with the recent developments of cheaper, more cost-effective accessible whole genome sequencing (WGS) technologies. With the convergence of reduced prices of whole-genome sequencing, the increase of capacity and throughput of global cloud infrastructure, and the combined technological developments in machine learning and signal processing, C2i Genomics said it is at the forefront of an inflection point that will profoundly change cancer treatment monitoring and clinical decisions.
The non-invasive detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from plasma has been shown to have clinical value for the detection of Minimal Residual Disease (MRD), the emergence of resistance, and the prediction of treatment response. New MRD technologies aim to provide greater cancer detection sensitivity by expanding methods beyond small, personalized panels.
C2i Genomics’ MRD technology applies whole-genome sequencing and artificial intelligence to a small blood sample to provide ultra-sensitive cancer detection. This technology aims to eliminate the need to develop a patient-specific assay, enabling high-performance, personalized monitoring and rapid turnaround across multiple solid cancers with reduced operational complexity.
Promising results
“This collaboration has generated promising results by providing ultra-sensitive and accurate cancer detection and monitoring across multiple solid cancers,” said Asaf Zviran, CEO and co-founder of C2i Genomics.
“We’re looking forward to our continued collaboration with AstraZeneca to see where the power of our technologies can support the development of more effective cancer treatments for the patients that urgently need it.”
C2i has expanded its SaaS solution across the globe, utilizing a cloud-based platform to perform cancer tumor burden monitoring. The collaboration with AstraZeneca comes after a period of partnerships, most recently with Karkinos Healthcare in India, OncoDNA across the EU, into China with NuProbe Global and an expansion in the U.S. with Premier Inc.