Espoo, Finland, September 26th, 2023. Euformatics, a global leader in NGS data quality control and variant interpretation, together with ViennaLab Diagnostics and Oncompass Medicine, has been awarded with one of the three awarded Phase 2 contracts to research and develop an economically sustainable liquid biopsy diagnostics solution based on DNA and RNA molecular profiling in cancer patients for a buyer consortium including some of the highest ranking European hospitals* from Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Belgium for the OncNGS pre-commercial procurement **.
OncNGS aims to improve cancer patients’ lives through development of novel molecular DNA/RNA analysis and profiling of tumor-derived material in liquid biopsies using a pan-cancer tumor marker analysis kit combined with a bioinformatics decision support system including the analytical test interpretation and clinical oncology reporting. Phase 2 contracts start now in September 2023 after completion of Phase 1 during first half of 2023 and evaluation of tender responses during the summer. The overall pre-commercial procurement will span across three competing phases and will run until 2026 with a total contract value of 7 million euros.
Tommi Kaasalainen, CEO of Euformatics, said, “We had great collaboration with ViennaLab and Oncompass during Phase 1 so I was confident that we had good chances of progressing to the next phase of the project. The technical requirements in the oncNGS program are super tough but fortunately we have a world class team in our companies to tackle them. Looking forward to delivering a high-performing liquid biopsy kit and bioinformatics pipeline to the buyers.”
Martin Zeppetzauer, CEO of ViennaLab, continues, ”During phase 1 the project team was able to progress rapidly and lay the foundations for a sophisticated and multifarious concept that will enable a new level of liquid biopsy diagnostics. The award of the phase 2 contract now enables us to intensify the efforts of our industry leading experts and we can look forward to the created concepts advancing to effective solutions.”
Professor Dr. Istvan Petak, Founder and CEO of Oncompass Medicine, concludes, “As we embark on Phase 2 of this pivotal project, our collective mission remains crystal clear: to unlock precision medicine’s full potential in the fight against cancer. With ViennaLab’s unrivaled proficiency in wet lab techniques and Euformatics’s excellence in dry lab analytics, our triad of expertise is poised to decipher the intricate molecular landscape, guiding us to bespoke cancer therapies. Together, we’re proud to lead the way in precision oncology, including rapid liquid biopsy analysis, offering hope to countless patients in need.”
The Phase 2 of the pre-commercial procurement starts now and will be completed within 12 months. The procurement consortium will then evaluate the output of phase 2 and will invite the successful suppliers to submit an offer for Phase 3. Awarded R&D providers in Phase 3 will integrate their solution to the buyers’ environment and demonstrate clinical performance and analytical validity such as assay performance to examine accuracy, precision and specificity of the workflow results.
* oncNGS procurement consortium is formed by oncology medical centers from the Sciensano and Institut Jules Bordet in Belgium, Institut Curie and Hospices Covils de Lyon in France, Charite Universtaetsmedizin and Ludwig Maximilians Universtaet Muenchen in Germany, Alleanza Contro il Cancro in Italy, and Institut Catala d’Oncologia in Spain.
** This pre-commercial procurement is co-funded by the European Union Grant Agreement number 874467.
About OncNGS:
OncNGS is a five year pre-commercial procurement project federating 8 leading medical centers as buyers’ groups with major experience in using different NGS platforms in cancer diagnostics. The consortium is further strengthened by a standardization organization in cancer control, European leading biomedical research in the field of haematologic malignancies and several other partners to cover all commercial aspects, intellectual property rights, innovation adoption and technical requirements.
For more information, please visit www.oncngs.eu
About Euformatics:
Euformatics is a Finnish software company that specializes in high standard bioinformatics tools for genomic data interpretation. Since 2010, Euformatics has been helping medical doctors and molecular genetics laboratories provide better precision medicine for cancer, common or rare disease diagnostics. At present, our core solution is the Genomics Hub which includes omnomicsNGS; for clinical analysis and reporting of patient NGS data, and omnomicsQ; for NGS data quality management.
For more information, please visit www.euformatics.com
About Viennalab:
ViennaLab Diagnostics specializes in easy-to-use in vitro diagnostic assays for the detection of genetic variants associated with genetic disorders, genetic predispositions, pharmacogenetics, cancer, and the human microbiome. All ViennaLab products are designed and manufactured in accordance with the quality standard of ISO 13485. Where indicated the ViennaLab assays carry CE IVD status or are IVDR certified products.
For more information, please visit www.viennalab.com
About Oncompass Medicine:
Oncompass is the winner of the Future Unicorn Award 2021 of DIGITALEUROPE, the association of technology companies in forty countries in Europe. The company is the global champion of GETINTHERING startup competition 2021 out of competing companies of 109 countries. Oncompass was the first to develop a software as a medical device based on artificial intelligence that proved to improve therapeutic decisions in precision oncology. Oncompass also provides end-to-end services for oncology centers that wish to provide precision oncology to their patients.
For more information, please visit www.oncompassmedicine.com
Press Relations:
Tommi Kaasalainen
Euformatics
tommi.kaasalainen@euformatics.com
