![GNS and Swedish Cancer Institute launch collaboration aimed at advancing the use of precision medicine in care for breast cancer patients. [Source: © Arto/Fotolia.com]](https://www.insideprecisionmedicine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/1243.jpeg "Pink badge on woman chest to support breat cancer cause")
GNS Healthcare and the Swedish Cancer Institute (SCI) said today they have launched a collaboration designed to help the cancer-care center strengthen, accelerate, and potentially expand its use of precision medicine in breast cancer care.
GNS will use its Reverse Engineering and Forward Simulation (REFS™) causal machine learning and simulation platform to build computer models and, over time, a software interface tool linking clinical and molecular data to treatment of patients at SCI.
The partners said they will build the computer models by applying aggregated patient data from SCI's Breast Cancer Research Registry, and Personalized Medicine Research Program (PMRP).
REFS-generated models are designed to support clinical decision-making through improved understanding of treatment success based on individualized genetic backgrounds. GNS and SCI said the models are usable for simulating potential treatment interventions and their effect on disease outcomes.
Results of these analyses can then be interpreted through GNS's software interface to support optimal delivery of treatments to individual patients.
“This collaboration is the first of its kind in establishing an enhanced precision medicine capability and holistic disease understanding,” Iya Khalil, Ph.D., GNS co-founder and chief commercial officer, said in a statement.
By automating how cancer patients are connected with their most effective treatment, the collaboration is intended to demonstrate a framework for scaling precision medicine initiatives. That framework, the partners added, is expected to prove to payers the value of precision medicine, and thus increase its use by providers and patients.
The collaboration will also set the stage for a more expansive program “capable of making discoveries that can deliver value for a range of healthcare stakeholders in the future,” GNS and SCI added.
“This unique collaboration is intended to facilitate the practice of personalized, i.e. precision, medicine at the SCI, increasing access of this important resource to our patients, while allowing our doctors to remain patient-focused,” SCI Executive Director Thomas Brown, M.D., said in a statement.
“Few oncologists today have the complete training or time necessary to decipher complex results of a tumor's biologic fingerprint. GNS' REFS-generated models will streamline this process and enhance our PMRP's work to support providers and their patients with treatment recommendations,’ Dr. Brown added.
Opened in 1932, SCI is the Pacific Northwest’s largest and most comprehensive cancer treatment program, offering advanced cancer-treatment options in chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery, as well as diagnostic capabilities, patient education and support-group services.
GNS says its cloud-based technologies are based on REFS and its MeasureBase data integration architecture, and focus on reducing adverse events, slowing disease progression, and improving therapeutic effectiveness through precision matching. The company says REFS is being developed to address drug discovery & development, as well as value-based drug solutions, care management, and health system business optimization.
Last month, GNS raised an additional $6 million in equity toward further development of REFS. The equity was raised from Amgen Ventures, with participation from existing investor Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
