Calyx, Qynapse to Expand Use of Neuroimaging AI Tools
The joint effort will combine CNS imaging services with imaging analysis tools
Calyx and Qynapse have joined forces to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based neuroimaging tools in clinical trials of treatment candidates for conditions affecting the central nervous system (CNS), or the brain and spinal cord.
This is expected to help advance therapy development for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other CNS disorders, such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s disease.
The partnership will take advantage of Calyx’ extensive experience in providing CNS imaging services to clinical trials of several pharmaceutical companies, as well as Qynapse’s precise and objective AI-powered neuroimaging analysis tools.
“We’re delighted to add Qynapse’s advanced analysis capabilities to our full suite of proven medical imaging services,” Stephen M. Bravo, MD, Calyx’ chief medical officer, said in a press release from both companies.
“This groundbreaking services and technology partnership will enable our clients to more confidently assess the full potential of treatments in development for multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s disease, as well as other neurodegenerative disorders,” Bravo said.
With headquarters in France, the U.S., and Canada, Qynapse is focused on developing AI-based neuroimaging tools that help optimize diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of people with neurological conditions.
The company has developed several proprietary algorithms “designed to rapidly analyze and interpret brain scans, delivering more objectivity and precision for the measurement of drug efficacy and safety during CNS clinical trials,” the companies said in the release.
These include Qynapse’s flagship solution, QyScore, cloud-based imaging software that automatically quantifies key markers of MS and other CNS diseases in a patient’s MRI and compares them with a large dataset of MRIs from healthy people.
The technology, which can also quantify changes in these MRI markers over time, earned clearance for use in Europe in 2017 and in the U.S. in 2020. It’s expected not only to boost diagnosis precision and therapy efficacy assessment in the clinical setting, but also improve trial design, patient selection, and outcome assessment in clinical trials.
The company also developed an experimental prognostic AI technology, called QyPredict, which is being developed for the automated prediction of clinical disease progression based on a patient’s MRI and clinical data.
Currently available for research use only, the innovative tool is expected to improve targeted patient selection and predict clinical progression in clinical trials, potentially increasing the chances of trial success.
In the clinical setting, the company is exploring QyPredict’s potential “to predict a patient’s individual disease trajectory, which would transform and improve timely intervention and treatment plans, potentially significantly improving quality of life and outcomes,” Qynapse said in the tool’s webpage.
“We are excited to partner with Calyx, a medical imaging and eClinical solutions powerhouse, in bringing life-changing treatments to patients globally,” Olivier Courrèges, Qynapse’s CEO, said. “Working together we will further expedite and improve the go-to-market process for CNS drug therapies.”
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