Owkin collaborates with MSD to assess the impact of MSIntuit® CRC to accelerate patient identification for therapeutic decisions

• Based on extensive evidence generation from Owkin, the collaborative project will further assess the overall benefit of implementing MSIntuit^® CRC as a digital pathology based pre-screening* tool to help identify patients whose tumours express microsatellite instability (MSI) 
• The collaboration is designed to evaluate the real-world impact of MSIntuit^® CRC across 6 sites from European hospitals
• The anticipated evidence in a real-world setting will measure critical factors such as time to confirmed diagnosis, integration of digital pathology within the current laboratory diagnostic journey, and the impact in aiding therapeutic decisions

Owkin, the first end-to-end Artificial Intelligence (AI)-biotech that uses cutting-edge causal AI to unlock precision drug discovery, development and diagnostics, has entered into a collaborative pilot program with MSD (Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA) to assess the impact of MSIntuit^® CRC, an innovative digital pathology diagnostic solution, on overall patient identification leading to therapeutic decisions.  MSIntuit® CRC leverages advanced machine learning algorithms to analyze patients’ tumour tissue data, providing pathologists with critical insights that facilitate quicker turnaround time and laboratory efficiency in the diagnosis of MSI status in colorectal cancer. 

The pilot program aims to evaluate the efficiency and work-flow impact of integrating MSIntuit^® CRC into current patient identification diagnostic journey  by generating evidence within a clinical diagnostic pathology setting. Crucially, it will measure resource utilization, overall user experience, and the impact of MSIntuit^® CRC in accelerating patient identification, providing insights into the effectiveness of AI-algorithm driven diagnostics in routine clinical practice. The project will also provide insights on preliminary budget impact and cost models, tailored to the needs of laboratories and hospitals of all sizes, which will be critical in understanding the overall benefits of adopting MSIntuit^® CRC.

Meriem Sefta, PhD, Chief Diagnostic Officer, Owkin, said:

"Collaboration with MSD allows us to bring our cutting-edge AI technology to a broader audience, ultimately benefiting more patients and healthcare systems. We are excited to demonstrate how MSIntuit® CRC can enhance the quality of care for colorectal cancer patients by streamlining the diagnostic process and alleviating the testing volume workload for pathologists and technicians."

MSIntuit^® CRC is designed to reduce the time to identify patients for a diagnosis, thereby facilitating optimal access to therapies, and in improving overall patient care. Additionally, by optimizing patient diagnostic journey, MSIntuit^® CRC is expected to help enhance efficiencies in the healthcare system.

Dondapati Chowdary, PhD, MBA, Executive Director, Global Marketing, Oncology Precision Medicine, MSD, said:

"Merck has a long-standing commitment to improving cancer care through innovation and collaboration. This collaboration with Owkin exemplifies Merck’s continued focus on precision medicine and diagnostics that may accelerate patient identification in areas of unmet need such as colorectal cancer”. 

This program will be conducted in select European sites that include Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, with a potential expansion to other countries.

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*helps enrich, by a minimal 2x fold, the potential MSI high CRC patients from allcomers who will only be required confirmatory testing