Digital Pathology Round-Up - August

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Preliminary data is now available for Signify Research's fourth Digital Pathology Core Market Report! Drop me a note if you'd like to discuss purchasing access or download the brochure here...

A reminder also, that Steve Holloway and I will be present at #ecp2024 next month - so drop us a note if you'd like to connect. ??

August's monthly news round-up is below:

1. ?Paige has announced some significant changes this month, so I'll cover them all briefly. Firstly, congratulations to Razik Yousfi who has been appointed new CEO! The change in leadership comes with Paige announcing its intention to transition its diagnostic AI applications from being exclusive to the Paige Platform to a standalone solution compatible with other digital pathology platforms. Following this, the company announced a new non-exclusive partnership with Indica Labs set to to integrate Paige’s AI diagnostic models into Indica’s workflow software. More interestingly, the Indica Labs partnership will also involve joint commercial efforts and co-development in areas including pharma services, preclinical, and translational applications...?it'll be exciting to see what comes of this new tie-up! As Paige shifts focus away from its IMS, some may be confused by the sudden change in direction, as it was not too long ago that the company announced it would host several third-party algorithms on FullFolio. There are a few reasons for this change, with market demand for interoperability, slower-than-anticipated clinical growth and the squeeze many vendors feel from investors playing a prominent part.
2. Before these disclosures however, Paige also had announced that Virchow and PRISM, its two generative foundation models for cancer R&D will now be open-source - with more advanced versions still available through commercial licenses. The models were developed as part of a collaboration with Microsoft, and for the BigTech giant, opening up access directly helps to drive up the use of the aforementioned algorithms, also increasing computing in its cloud environment. From Paige's perspective as many other open-source digital pathology foundation models have also launched recently, this helps to increase both awareness and exposure to its algorithms so that the company can upsell commercial licenses later.
3. Next, Valar Labs filed a second PCT filing for an algorithm to predict patient outcomes regarding specific treatments for pancreatic cancer. This news comes off the back of the company raising $22M in funding a few months ago. It's interesting to note that many of the newer entrants to the digital pathology market over the last few years have chosen to focus on developing prognostic algorithms which offer support to both pathology and oncology departments. This strategy poses both higher risks but also higher rewards, and offers vendors the opportunity to sequester funds from outside the pathology lab!
4. In other AI news, ArteraAI announced the expansion of the ArteraAI Prostate test to inform active surveillance decisions for lower-risk prostate cancer patients. The company's test was previously used to guide treatment for high- and intermediate-risk patients but now offers analysis for lower-risk profiles also. ArteraAI is one of a few companies to receive reimbursement for the use of its multimodal artificial intelligence (MMAI) biomarker test, so it's no wonder the company is looking to drive up volumes!
5. Next, io9, Inc.'s 'DeepHRD' featured in a study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which I thought of as interesting as the results indicate that the AI model had outperformed FDA-approved companion diagnostics in identifying patients likely to respond to specific therapies. Digital companion diagnostics offer the potential to act as faster, more cost-effective alternatives to standard genomic sequencing, and although many vendors don't intend to directly compete, this study suggests that it is possible!
6. Huawei also caught my eye this month as it published a case study with a customer, Southwest Hospital in China, which is utilising the vendor for storage as it transitions to digital pathology for primary diagnosis. Huawei's OceanStor Pacific Scale-Out Storage is designed specifically for digital pathology departments, reportedly incorporating a pathology file compression algorithm, high-density hardware design, intelligent tiering, and multi-protocol interworking in addition to being designed to retrieve files more quickly. Whilst not a lot of pathology labs choose to retain their WSIs long-term, as more and more cases are diagnosed digitally, storage will become a more prominent concern. Many solutions are being discussed, including using already existing vendor-neutral archives to bring down costs, and compression algorithms. Case studies like these are vital in helping new labs understand how they should approach WSI storage; however, what is lacking currently is clarity around cost - which is still a significant concern.
7. Next, Pathcore announced a partnership with Fortelinea Software Systems, a provider of histology tracking software, which will see the two companies integrate Fortelinea’s LIMS Prima and?Pathcore's IMS. As I've said before, integration is important but it's also important that it's done well. Bidirectional interfaces can make all the difference in supporting the user experience so watch this space!
8. Congratulations to PreciseDx on completing its $20M Series B funding round! The funds will be used to scale up the commercialisation of PreciseBreast? risk assessment. I was particularly interested to see investment from Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics mentioned in the press release. With Quest announcing the acquisition of PathAI's diagnostics services lab earlier this year it seems the bigger private labs are finally beginning to accelerate their DP investments...potentially with another acquisition in mind later down the line?
9. In sadder news, Cytomine has now exited the market and is reportedly available for a potential takeover after ending activities in July. For any inquiries, see Jean Beka. I mentioned incoming consolidation as one of my predictions for digital pathology in 2024, and unfortunately, tough investment climates combined with long sales cycles are certainly challenging some vendors this year, so this is unlikely to be the last such announcement we see.
10. Only a few days ago Tribun Health announced it had partnered with Ibex Medical Analytics to offer the latter's AI on Tribun Health's CaloPix platform. The joint solution will be offered in Canada, the European Union, and the United States. In the press release Tribun Health outlined its future AI strategy by emphasising three core pillars: build AI for workflow efficiency and diagnostic precision, embark on strategic collaborations with AI leaders and offer APIs to any third-party and customer-developed algorithms. This strategy is a good example of a vendor distributing its focus between interoperability (offering access to anyone) and on quality of integrations (embedding selectively, as it is expensive and takes time). I look forward to seeing who joins the platform next!
11. Lastly I have another congratulations to SigTuple which has raised another $4M to drive geographical expansion, expand its product portfolio, and support regulatory clearances. The company's core product, AI100, recieved FDA clearance in September last year and now it seems the product is gaining significant traction in the Indian market. Since the FDA announcement, the company has expanded into Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa and is poised to enter Europe and the Americas soon.
12. Honorary mentions to both Ibex Medical Analytics and PathAI for also securing IVDR certification this month. Ibex announced the news for its prostate, breast, and gastric AI solutions along with some statistics around its recent growth, whilst PathAI released its statement regarding its IMS.

That's all for this month but do subscribe to receive regular updates!

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