15. July 2020 Indivumed’s multi-omics database IndivuType

Fernando Andreu (Chief Business Officer, Indivumed), Markus Dangl (Therapeutic Area Head, Innovate Oncology, Evotec), Jonathan Woodsmith (Director of Advanced Analytics and AI, Indivumed), and Eberhard Krauß (Group Leader, In Vitro Biology, Evotec) provided scientific insights into the ongoing joint drug development program for colorectal cancer.

This joint drug development program is based on Indivumed’s unique database IndivuType with thousands of longitudinally collected data sets from patients around the globe. It is the only truly multi-omics database combining whole genome and transcriptome data with whole proteomic and phosphoproteomic data from cancer and corresponding normal tissue from the same patient.

Rapid freezing of the material, to preserve the proteomic profiles, is part of >130 proprietary SOP that are applied in all clinics and makes the data reliable and comparable between all patients. The availability of additional tissue and plasma allows an even deeper insight into the disease (e.g., by adding metabolomics data images from tissue sections or by developing plasma-based biomarkers) as required for the joint program and beyond.

These biological data combined with comprehensive clinical information (including long-term outcome data) and Indivumed’s AI-integrated data analytics platform empowered Indivumed’s analytical team to identify 13 novel targets within weeks. Several of these targets have subsequently been validated through Evotec’s leading in vitro testing platform, while the remaining candidates are still in the in vitro validation process.

The high proportion of identified targets that have been subsequently validated in vitro proves the potential of the IndivuType database to become an integral part of drug development. The depth and quality of its proprietary data sets led to a higher success rate for the candidate targets (fewer dropouts between the different validation steps) and overall represent a shorter and more efficient drug development process.

The collaboration between Evotec and Indivumed to combine their capabilities is bound to open new opportunities for the treatment of cancer. Building on the success of this first colorectal cancer program, the companies have signed an additional agreement and are already working on a second program focusing on lung cancer, which is the most frequent cancer type in men and the third most frequent in women.