Ovarian cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer deaths among Irish women.
Belfast-based health-tech Sonrai Analytics has partnered with AOA Dx, an early-stage US-based biotech company, which is developing a test to diagnose ovarian cancer in symptomatic people.
AOA, which claims its test is a first-of-its-kind in this area, will be supported by Sonrai to accelerate development.
Through the partnership, AOA will utilise Sonrai’s cloud-based advanced analytics platform, pharma-grade data infrastructure and bioinformatic expertise to integrate and analyse multimodal data, the companies said.
Sonrai’s platform will support AOA in validating diagnostic biomarkers, enhancing the accuracy and clinical utility of its serum-based test for ovarian cancer. Sonrai will also offer its bioinformatics expertise, enabling AOA to use pre-built machine learning tools and run automated pipelines.
AOA’s test leverages a combination of novel gangliosides, lipids and proteins to diagnose ovarian cancer in women experiencing vague abdominal symptoms.
Ovarian cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer deaths among Irish women – and the rate in Ireland is 24pc higher than the EU average. Diagnosing women when symptoms first occur could change the ultimate outcome of the disease.
Founded in 2018 by Darragh McArt and Deva Senevirathne, Sonrai is a spin-out from Qubis, the commercialisation arm of Queen’s University Belfast.
“We’re delighted to partner with AOA Dx to help advance the development of their innovative test for ovarian cancer,” said Prof Darragh McArt, the CEO of Sonrai Analytics.
“By applying our AI-powered analytics platform, we’re able to unlock deeper insights from complex multimodal data, accelerating the validation of biomarkers, enabling earlier and more accurate detection.”
Dr Abigail McElhinny, chief scientific officer at AOA Dx, added: “By partnering with Sonrai, we can not only integrate and manage our in-house development data but also cross-reference it with public datasets and analyse it seamlessly within one centralised environment.
“The ability to combine and analyse multi-omic, clinical and demographic data within one compliant platform is critical to both our research and regulatory approval process.”
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