PRESS RELEASE
IMU Biosciences joins ground-breaking UK research consortium investigating patient response to cancer immunotherapies
Consortium includes leading research institutions, NHS Trusts and industry members and aims to make pioneering immunotherapies safer and more effective
London, UK, 7 October 2024 – IMU Biosciences (or “the Company”), a biotechnology company pioneering systems-level immune profiling with AI to drive breakthroughs in precision medicine, is pleased to announce its participation in MANIFEST (Multiomic ANalysis of Immunotherapy Features Evidencing Success and Toxicity), a new UK-wide platform to understand immunotherapy response and side effects in patients with cancer.
The MANIFEST consortium, led by the Francis Crick Institute and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, has been awarded £9 million in funding from the UK government’s Medical Research Council and Office for Life Sciences, with an additional £12.9 million in matched funds from industry partners. This four-year project aims to evaluate the many barriers to the success of immunotherapy and develop predictive biomarkers related to patient response, resistance, and immune-related adverse events following immuno-oncology treatments.
IMU Biosciences will play a crucial role in this nationwide effort by analysing thousands of blood samples from patients undergoing immunotherapy. The Company’s cutting-edge technology platform, which incorporates high-resolution spectral cytometry integrated with AI-powered analytics, can identify and analyse over 2,000 immune cell subsets, to develop novel systems-level immune signatures and insights.
IMU’s technology will be instrumental in the study to help identify and understand how an individual’s immune system influences the responsiveness to immuno-therapy treatments. Using its AI and machine learning analytics, IMU is developing predictive models to improve treatment selection and patient outcomes.
The research will initially focus on melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, bladder cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer, involving 6,000 patients across the UK. The consortium’s findings aim to help understand which patients are most likely to benefit from immunotherapy and provide insights for potential new treatments, such as vaccines and cell therapies.
Adam Laing, President and CSO of IMU Biosciences commented: “The IMU team is thrilled to contribute our cutting-edge, AI-driven immune profiling platform to this groundbreaking UK consortium, helping to deepen the understanding of the immune system’s role in cancer therapy and response, with the ultimate goal of improving clinical outcomes for patients. This collaboration with world-class institutions and industry partners underscores IMU Biosciences’ commitment to driving innovation in precision medicine and showcases our potential to make a real impact in healthcare.”
The MANIFEST consortium brings together 15 academic institutions, including The Francis Crick Institute and the Cancer Research UK National Biomarker Centre, alongside six NHS Trusts, 11 industry collaborators including IMU Biosciences, as well as patient advocacy groups and other networks.
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Contacts:
| Adam Laing, CSO and Co-founder, IMU Biosciences | media@imubiosciences.com |
| ICR Consilium | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5700 |
| Sukaina Virji/Lucy Featherstone/Jonathan Edwards | IMUBiosciences@consilium-comms.com |
About IMU Biosciences
IMU Biosciences has developed proprietary platform technologies that generate and translate vast system-level immune data into actionable insights and tools to drive the development of precision medicines across a variety of diseases. Built on over a decade of research at King’s College London and the Francis Crick Institute, IMU leverages advanced immune profiling with proprietary AI and machine learning analytics to uncover novel clinical immune signatures. IMU continues to establish partnerships with leading Pharma and Biotech companies to advance disease diagnosis, optimise product selection, and improve patient stratification and monitoring—while also building its own pipeline of innovative products. To learn more please visit https://www.imubiosciences.com/. Follow us on LinkedIn.
