Genialis Harnesses RNA-seq Platform to Advance Precision Medicine Discoveries

New partnerships in oncology R&D, software advances, and the appointment of a new Board member help drive therapeutic breakthroughs

SAN RAMON, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#RNAseq—Genialis, a leader in applied data science for the development of precision medicines, will present a poster alongside OncXerna (fka Oncologie) at the upcoming Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer conference (SITC 2020). The poster, titled “Development of an RNA-based Diagnostic Platform Based on the Tumor Microenvironment Dominant Biology,” (Poster 257) will be discussed on Wednesday, November 11, and Friday, November 13, 2020.

The SITC presentation is the first scientific disclosure from the companies’ ongoing collaboration, previously announced in January 2020, to develop a state-of-the-art RNA-based biomarker platform, with this initial panel capturing the complexities of the tumor microenvironment. Today, 90 percent of patients do not have a precision medicine solution based on DNA profiling. Thorough characterization of RNA expression enables OncXerna’s panel to describe the cancer’s dominant biology to match patients to a drug whose MOA targets that biology. Genialis is optimizing algorithms for patient selection, a critical step towards developing a companion diagnostic for a given drug. The poster will highlight biomarker validations on approved therapies and application to OncXerna’s investigational clinical programs.

Genialis’ participation at SITC is the latest in a series of milestone achievements in the last two quarters of 2020, including ongoing engagements with biopharma collaborators; updates to its precision medicine software platform; and an addition to its board of directors. More information on each of these updates can be found below:

PRECISION MEDICINE COLLABORATIONS

Throughout 2020, Genialis’s industry partners have drawn from the company’s expertise in gene expression and genome regulation to develop or discover innovative new drugs across the R&D lifecycle, from target validation to translational modeling to clinical biomarkers. Of these diverse use cases, the last piece—biomarkers that predict drug response—remains a central focal point. These partners include growth-stage biotechs, including InhibRx, Elevar and Kronos, as well as various larger pharma with deep pipelines, to academic institutions like Baylor College of Medicine’s Therapeutic Innovation Center (THINC).

ANALYTICS SOFTWARE

Genialis has also recently released an update to its proprietary software features as part of the Expressions platform to include a formal pipeline to support the analysis of data generated by the Cut-and-Run method for DNA-protein binding. This is a tool increasingly used to study transcription factors and other chromatin modifiers. Other novel methods supported on Expressions include SLAM-seq, for dissecting transcriptional dynamics, and various permutations of CLIP-seq, for assaying transcriptional processing. Genialis and Roche are also currently co-promoting their unified solution for Roche’s KAPA RNA HyperPrep Kits.

PEOPLE NEWS

In Q3 2020, Nadine Geiser, Ph.D., joined the Board of Directors. Dr. Geiser is an investment manager at Redalpine Venture partners and takes over the firm’s seat on the board. She is a formally trained scientist, studied biotechnology in Munich, Germany and Singapore before completing a Ph.D. in proteomics at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Previously Dr. Geiser worked in Amsterdam for a corporate venture firm and in the equity research department of an investment bank in Zurich before joining Redalpine in 2019.

“To realize the potential of precision medicine, we need to better master the data that explains the biology of various diseases,” said Dr. Geiser. “I’ve spent my career first in the lab researching proteomics and then investing in companies with game-changing approaches to decipher and engineer biology. Genialis’ approach to data integration, and in particular their expertise with gene expression-based models, will help the company’s therapeutic partners succeed in the clinic to help get new treatment options to patients.”

INDUSTRY ADVOCACY

Genialis remained an active member of the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, most recently contributing to the organization’s webinar series on the various applications of AI in both drug discovery and clinical uses. Rosengarten moderated a discussion for AAIH focusing on “Optimizing Real World Data for Therapeutic Development,” and participated as a panelist for a discussion on best practices for running a “Biotech Startup in the Cloud.” He also recently spoke at the AI Applications in BioPharma.

“The center of our work, while extremely technical, is all driven by getting patients better access to better medicines to treat a range of conditions. We’re tackling some really hard problems in oncology and rare disease that invariably leads to exciting innovations when we finally breakthrough,” said Dr. Rosengarten. “Having the brain trust addition of Nadine to our board will complement our current team well, as she brings expertise in both analyzing the results we see in the lab and also guide us in growth with her finance background.”

For more information on Genialis, please visit www.genialis.com

About Genialis

Genialis is a data science and drug discovery company focused on new ways to treat disease. Blending computational biology and AI-based methods, Genialis merges and models data at the intersection of clinical and translational medicine. Genialis is trusted by biopharma and big pharma alike, to identify targets, predict biomarkers and optimally position novel drugs. Together, Genialis and its partners work to bring improved solutions to drug discovery to change people’s lives.

Contacts

Andrea Vuturo

andrea@vuturo.com
415-689-8414