Owkin Teams Up with NeoGenomics and France Tissue Bank to Build IHC-Dedicated Foundation Model for AI-Driven ADC Diagnostics

Paris, France – July 29th, 2025 – Owkin, a global leader in AI-powered solutions for drug development and diagnostics, today announced a strategic agreement with NeoGenomics, a leading provider of oncology diagnostic solutions that enable precision medicine, and France Tissue Bank (FTB). Owkin will leverage their respective high-quality histopathological datasets to develop the first foundation model exclusively trained on immunohistochemistry (IHC) images and made available publicly for research use.

IHC remains the most accessible and cost-effective method for assessing antigen expression in pathology labs, especially in global clinical trials and community care settings. However, challenges such as interobserver variability, limited scoring resolution, and difficulty quantifying tumor heterogeneity and subcellular staining limit its value for precise patient selection in antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) or other programs. This foundation model will serve as a cornerstone of Owkin’s AI diagnostic platform, powering next-generation digital pathology solutions that support accurate biomarker quantification and patient stratification. By learning from large, diverse IHC datasets, the model enables more precise and reproducible biomarker quantification across varied clinical settings. It also has the potential to accelerate biomarker discovery and targeted therapy development by identifying patterns in protein expression associated with treatment response.

Owkin will apply its deep expertise in AI and foundation model development to the project. Owkin’s recent scientific achievements, such as foundation model distillation and tile score distribution matching have been selected as early accepted papers for MICCAI 2025. Combined with NeoGenomics’ expansive real-world pathology dataset and FTB’s high-quality, expertly annotated histological samples, the result will be a domain-specific foundation model built to tackle the complex, nuanced challenges of IHC interpretation—a critical step forward in enabling clinical-grade AI solutions in translational research and diagnostic development for biopharma and academic researchers.

“At Owkin, we’ve been building and fine-tuning foundation models for over eight years. Recently we have focused on distillation to enable more efficient and robust diagnostics,” said Alexandre Filiot, Owkin Senior Data Scientist. “By focusing specifically on IHC, immunostaining that plays a pivotal role in ADC biomarker detection but remains difficult to interpret consistently, we’re applying our technical leadership to one of the most pressing problems in precision oncology. This model will unlock more scalable, quantitative, and standardized diagnostics, with the aim of improving patient access to targeted therapies.”

To ensure the model is both diverse and diagnostically relevant, Owkin has partnered with NeoGenomics, one of the largest oncology diagnostics laboratories in the US with a multi-modality test menu and strong market share within community-based practices. NeoGenomics’ dataset comprises over 2.5 million digitized pathology images, paired with rich clinical metadata. It also reflects the genetic and demographic diversity of the U.S. population, enhancing the model’s robustness across therapeutic indications and clinical settings. 

“At NeoGenomics, we are committed to shaping the future of precision diagnostics through innovation and strategic collaboration. By combining our industry-leading IHC images and dataset with Owkin’s cutting-edge AI capabilities, we are laying the groundwork for a transformational leap in ADC development,” said Warren Stone, President & Chief Operating Officer of NeoGenomics.

Owkin has also partnered with FTB, which oversees a unique dataset of expertly verified, digitized slides curated by over 120 pathologists and sourced from 250 healthcare establishments. Their high-resolution, pathologist-reviewed samples ensure diagnostic-grade precision and ethical integrity, accelerating AI development under clinical-grade standards. 

“This strategic partnership illustrates our determination to place innovation at the heart of the development of biological resources and medical expertise. This collaboration will enable us to create a high-quality database for the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industries. This synergy will help speed up research, make analyses more reliable and meet the challenges of tomorrow's medicine,” said M. Farid Tabet, CEO of FTB.

Owkin’s continued leadership in AI model development and regulatory validation ensures that this technology will be fit for translational and clinical deployment, unlocking new possibilities in targeted oncology R&D.

About NeoGenomics

NeoGenomics, Inc. is a premier cancer diagnostics company specializing in cancer genetics testing and information services. We offer one of the most comprehensive oncology-focused testing menus across the cancer continuum, serving oncologists, pathologists, hospital systems, academic centers, and pharmaceutical firms with innovative diagnostic and predictive testing to help them diagnose and treat cancer. Headquartered in Fort Myers, FL, NeoGenomics operates a network of CAP-accredited and CLIA-certified laboratories for full-service sample processing and analysis services throughout the US and a CAP-accredited full-service sample-processing laboratory in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

About France Tissue Bank 

France Tissue Bank specialises in supplying enriched health data and biological samples, to facilitate biomedical research and innovation. A key player, assisting both public and private project leaders, FTB is supported by a structured network of partners and a rigorous and ethical governance to ensure the quality, traceability and regulatory compliance of the resources it provides. By supplying reliable, structured and interoperable datasets, FTB is playing a key role in accelerating scientific advances – from developing biomarkers to personalized medicine – for the benefit of patients.