Advancing Oncology Drug Discovery: a Unique Ecosystem for Innovation
The University of Antwerp and the Antwerp University Hospital (UZA) have built a state-of-the-art drugdiscovery ecosystem, integrating expertise in patient-derived tumor organoids, automation, AI-poweredimage analysis, and AI drug development. This ecosystem is further strengthened by its spin-offs Orbits Oncology and Sightera Biosciences, along with the DrugVision.AI robotic organoid screening platform,creating a unique platform for high-throughput, AI-driven drug discovery and precision medicine.
Our Capabilities:
Organoid Biobank & High-Throughput Drug Screening: DrugVision.AI
- A patient-derived tumor organoid biobank, enabling clinically relevant preclinical models
- Automated high-throughput screening (HTS) pipeline utilizing robotics for large-scale drugtesting
- Advanced live-cell imaging workflows capturing drug responses in real time
AI-Powered Image & Data Analysis: Orbits Oncology
- Proprietary label-free image analysis technology, trained on thousands of organoid images
- AI-driven drug response metrics that correlate strongly with clinical outcomes
- Applications for clinical drug response prediction, enabling more precise and effectivepersonalized treatment strategies
- The only software covering the full organoid screening pipeline, from image acquisition tobiologically relevant insights
AI-Driven Drug Development & Therapy Potentiation: Sightera Biosciences
- CapabilitiesAI-powered, structure-driven drug development engine using proprietary HT organoid drugscreening data and AI drug development pipelines
- Focus on identifying and optimizing novel oncology and regenerative therapeutics
- Expertise in co-developing therapy potentiators and outlicensing new drug candidates
Collaboration Opportunities:
✔ Joint drug screening projects using patient-derived tumor organoids as collaborator or as servicethrough DrugVision.AI
✔ Applications of Orbits Oncology for clinical drug response prediction, advancing personalisedmedicine
✔ AI-powered drug development collaborations with Sightera Biosciences, focusing on therapypotentiation (synergy) and novel oncology or regenerative therapeutics for co-development or out-licensing of in-house assets