Commercial • Innovation • Partners
  • Home
  • Commercialisation
  • Partnerships
    • Embark Group
    • Fintech Scotland
    • IBM Partner Cloud
    • IBM Channel Partners
  • Investment
  • Team
  • Case Studies
  • Blogs
  • Contact

Oxford Cancer Biomarkers


Vivolution brings OCB and IBM together to advance survival from colon cancer​

Picture

Company:
Oxford Cancer Biomarkers

About:
Oxford Cancer Biomarkers (OCB) provides personalised solutions that meet important needs across the cancer care pathway. Early detection of cancer risk and dramatically improving outcomes using personalised medicine and digital healthcare are core themes.  OCB achieves these aims by applying platforms that incorporate biomarker-based technology with digital solutions and integrated lifestyle advice.

OCB is a partner to the University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust’s successful bid for the PathLAKE project; in which UK Research and Innovation will invest £10million as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

OCB’s role is to provide cutting-edge expertise through its existing ColoProg® image analysis platform. The PathLAKE resources will enable OCB and its IBM channel partner Meridian IT to identify novel diagnostic biomarkers in the tumour microenvironment to improve early diagnosis and individual patient risk stratification.

Oxford Cancer Biomarkers is closely affiliated with The University of Oxford, where its founders lead research groups focused on translational cancer science.

Website:
oxfordbio.com                         

Social Media:
@OCBiomarkers 

 
Location:
Oxford Science Park, United Kingdom
 
Sector:
Early diagnosis of cancer, personalisation of chemotherapy regimens and lifestyle advice to minimise the risk and impact of cancer on the individual have been identified as important aims for all global healthcare economies. OCB’s suite of biomarker and genetic tests help clinicians, health insurance providers and occupational health providers to achieve these goals of looking after their patients and providing the best treatment.

ToxNav® is a genetic test that predicts an individual’s propensity to develop life-threatening adverse reactions from SFU/capecitabine chemotherapy. It provides a clinically-endorsed dosing guidance for clinicians to implement. ToxNav® is OCB’s first commercial product, launched in Q3 2018.

ColoPredictTM is the world’s first genetic screening tool to identify people’s risk of developing colorectal cancer; many years before it becomes clinical reality.  ColoPredict is much more than a genetic screen, bringing life-style advice and behaviour change through digital technology.  It has already been clinically validated in over 50,000 patients.

ColoProg® is a CE marked, innovative digital pathology platform that enables physicians to spare people with certain Stage II colorectal cancer tumours from unnecessary adjuvant chemotherapy. The digital algorithm provides clinicians with a stratified risk analysis for each person. It is validated in 2,400 patients.

OCB wants to optimise its suite of digital pathology algorithms by leveraging machine learning and to access global routes-to-market more rapidly by:

 
Challenge:
  • Improving the ColoProg® accuracy and application in current and future pathology hardware systems
  • Gain brand recognition in a competitive global digital healthcare sector
  • Identify new innovative technologies to support ColoPredictTM lifestyle improvement components in partnership with global providers
  • Access private health insurance companies, occupational health providers and public health providers to test their hypothesis/assumptions on the pains which the OCB’s innovative solutions help to solve.
  • Help support OCB’s quest to be investor ready and to secure investment funding to drive the company’s growth and success

Solution:
Vivolution has so far enabled OCB to develop the relationship with IBM and MeridianIT to:

  • Orchestrate relationships with and access to IBM PowerAI Vision to enhance OCB machine learning capability for image analysis 
  • Develop brand recognition through the global introductions by Meridian IT; an IBM Platinum Global Partner
  • Be the MeridianIT (IBM PowerAI Vision Platform) technology first commercial customer with training and validation to dramatically improve ColoProg® diagnostic algorithms
  • Partner with major IT service providers for NHS lab scanner contracts
  • Develop relationship with Meridian IT to access innovative digital lifestyle providers
  • Showcase new relationships with IBM to enhance investor interest in a new funding round

 
Results:
OCB has received unprecedented access for a scale-up company to IBM and Meridian IT through Vivolution as the Corporate Innovation Partner and project facilitator. MeridianIT has helped prepare OCB for what it will take to ensure widespread adoption of ColoPredictTM in workplace and insurance schemes. The interface with the IBM AI Vision Platform has enabled optimisation of the ColoProg® digital algorithms and access to enhanced machine learning capability to refine the test for future technology transfer to multiple automated scanners as a platform-agnostic piece of software. Ultimately this will lead to ColoProg Plus; a Software as a Service clinical solution to meet the evolving needs of pathology teams and a commercial business model to deliver significant benefits to the market.
 
All of this has been achieved within OCB’s strong technical and commercial teams, which has saved vast amounts of resource, time and money in their mission to have a fully validated solution which the market requires.
 
The collaboration has the foundation to increase OCB’s market valuation and enhance the scope of securing investment to grow the business, more rapidly

Next Steps:
  1. OCB is engaging further with Vivolution by undertaking a 2-day value proposition agile workshop where the team will be challenged on all elements of their customer discovery and insights from customers and other key stakeholders. 
  2. Conduct further customer discovery from international private health insurance and public health providers.
  3. Finalise the OCB business plan, financial modelling, pitch deck / preparation
  4. Introduction to UK and International investors

Testimonials:

Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Testimonial 
“We are delighted and honoured to be the first customer for the Meridian IT PowerAI Vision platform, powered by IBM. This will enable OCB to dramatically speed up the development and commercialisation of precision tools to advance standards of care in personalised medicine for cancer. Vivolution has been fundamental in creating this collaboration with IBM and Meridian ‘IT and to help solve a global healthcare challenge”                                                                             

David Browning; CEO

---

IBM Health & Life Sciences Testimonial
"At IBM it's our objective to help bring solutions to market that improve health outcomes for patients. Working with likes of Vivolution, our Commercialisation Partner is critical to achieve this. Vivolution work with qualified scale-up’s and have not only introduced Oxford Cancer Biomarkers but continue to develop and support the relationship with IBM and Meridian IT. This collaboration showcases the potential of IBM’s platforms, including IBM PowerAI Vision, to support the rapid development and implementation of disruptive precision medicine innovation and resonates strongly with our focus on improving both the scope and quality of advanced personalised healthcare.” 

Andreas Haimbock-Tichy; Director, Health & Life Sciences


Picture
Picture

Find Out More
Want to find out more?

get in touch today

hello@vivolution.co.uk
Vivolution Logo
© Vivolution Limited
 © Vivolution Limited
Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • Commercialisation
  • Partnerships
    • Embark Group
    • Fintech Scotland
    • IBM Partner Cloud
    • IBM Channel Partners
  • Investment
  • Team
  • Case Studies
  • Blogs
  • Contact