$2.5M in funding from the National Cancer Institute and Andy Hill CARE Fund will accelerate Phase Genomics’ proprietary OncoTerra™ platform toward clinical use, unlocking new genome-wide cytogenetic insights for acute myeloid leukemia and colorectal cancer
Monday, August 7, 2023
SEATTLE– Phase Genomics, Inc. a leading developer of cutting-edge genomic solutions, today announced $2.5M in non-dilutive funding to extend its AI-driven OncoTerra™ platform from the research setting toward clinical care for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and colorectal cancer. The project is fueled by a $2M SBIR award from the National Cancer Institute and $500K from Washington State’s Andy Hill CARE Fund to establish a new clinical predictive paradigm based on the landscape of chromosomal aberrations in cancer to guide treatment decisions.
“We’re taking a pivotal leap toward integrating a new cytogenomic approach into clinical care to revolutionize treatment decision-making. The new funding will help us deliver a rapid assay that combines the collective power of today’s common cytogenetic solutions at a fraction of the cost and with added predictive power,” said Ivan Liachko, PhD, Phase Genomics founder and CEO. “Utilizing OncoTerra for patients with AML and colorectal cancer will reduce resource burdens for health systems, diagnostic laboratories and, most importantly, help the patients themselves.”
The proprietary proximity ligation sequencing-based platform, OncoTerra, is purpose-built to deliver more actionable insights for clinical decision making than karyotyping, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and chromosomal microarrays (CMA) as frontline cytogenetic diagnostics with a single assay. The platform unlocks genome-wide insights from a wide array of sample types, including blood, fresh, frozen, and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues, delivering the value of scalable cytogenomics for solid-tumor and blood cancers in the research setting.
Phase Genomics will leverage the two-year SBIR award to use OncoTerra to generate data from hundreds of archival samples. Data from the study will fuel Phase Genomics’ development of an AI-based model that delivers a predictive score, the Chromosomal Aberration in Oncology Score (ChAOS™), with the potential for patient risk assessment and to help guide future treatment decisions. Evidence from this observational study, which will include 500 AML patient samples, builds upon preliminary studies in hundreds of patient samples of diverse cancer types and will form the cornerstone of future clinical research to establish the utility of OncoTerra and ChAOS in clinical care.
An additional $500K award from the CARE Fund will be deployed to extend the ChAOS model to colorectal cancer with a specific focus on underserved populations in the Pacific Northwest. Although a variety of omics-based diagnostics are available, recent studies show that they are not equally accurate for all cancer patients owing to unaccounted-for genomic diversity in under-studied populations. The CARE Fund award will advance the development of ChAOS to address this disparity.
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ABOUT PHASE GENOMICS
Phase Genomics applies proprietary proximity ligation technology to enable chromosome-scale genome assembly, metagenomic deconvolution, as well as analysis of structural genomic variation and genome architecture. In addition to a comprehensive portfolio of laboratory and computational services and products, including Hi-C kits for plants, animals, microbes, and human samples, they also offer an industry-leading genome and metagenome assembly and analysis software.
Based in Seattle, WA, the company was founded in 2015 by a team of genome scientists, software engineers, and entrepreneurs. The company’s mission is to empower scientists with genomic tools that accelerate breakthrough discoveries.
ABOUT ANDY HILL CARE FUND
The Andy Hill Cancer Research Endowment (CARE) Fund invests in public and private entities to promote cancer research in Washington. Through research grants and strategic partnerships, the CARE Fund aims to improve health outcomes by advancing transformational research in the prevention and treatment of cancer. The Washington State Legislature created the CARE Fund in 2015 and this public investment in cancer research is maximized by private and nonstate matching funds.