Imcyse joins EU project to develop tools to better track MS progression

The biopharmaceutical company Imcyse has signed on to a new project that aims to use artificial intelligence (AI) to develop tools that can be used to better track the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The project’s goal is to help guide treatment decisions for MS patients.

Called Clinical impact through AI-assisted MS care, or CLAIMS, the project launched earlier this month in the European Union with total funding of almost €10 million (nearly $11 million). That funding was provided by industry partners and the European Commission — the executive body for the EU.

CLAIMS is a public-private collaboration involving 15 partners across nine countries, and will run over the next four years.

“MS is a devastating and highly unpredictable disease that affects everyone differently with a continued high need for effective and safe treatments. With this partnership, we aim to increase engagement with leading scientists, experts and clinicians in the field while we continue to advance our … clinical program,” Denis Bedoret, CEO of Imcyse, said in a company press release.

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New platform to use artificial intelligence to assess MS progression

The project’s partners will work to create a platform that can be used to assess disease progression in people with MS. That platform also will support clinicians in recommending treatments.

It will take advantage of deep-learning AI disease subtyping and progression models. The aim is to improve MS care, prolong patients’ quality of life, and lower the disease’s financial burden for both patients and society as a whole.

In simple terms, AI technologies work by feeding data into a computer alongside a set of mathematical algorithms, which the computer uses to identify patterns across all the information provided. Then, based on these identified patterns, the computer can use its algorithms to make predictions about what’s likely to happen for a hypothetical patient based on that individual’s particular situation.

Now having joined the project, Imcyse will be working alongside other pharma and biotech companies to figure out how best to translate data from clinical trials — rigorously controlled scientific studies — into real-world clinical practice.

The Belgium-based company is developing an experimental immunotherapy for MS called IMCY-0141. Imcyse now is conducting a Phase 1/2 clinical trial (NCT05417269) testing IMCY-0141 in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

We are proud to be part of this important project and excited to add Imcyse’s knowledge and the insights we are gathering from our ongoing Phase 1/2 study in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

The trial, which will run through December 2025, started dosing patients last year, and it is still recruiting participants at a site in Moldova.

“We are proud to be part of this important project and excited to add Imcyse’s knowledge and the insights we are gathering from our ongoing Phase 1/2 study in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis,” Bedoret said.

CLAIMS involves medical experts in MS from leading European hospitals, as well as university and nonprofit partners. Bristol-Myers Squibb and Hoffman La Roche are industry partners, as is biotech company AB Science.