REG - IXICO plc - Launch of IXIQ.Ai Deep learning AI-based platform

IXICOAnnouncement

14/02/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 4972B  IXICO plc  14 February 2022

IXICO plc

("IXICO" or the "Company")

 

Launch of IXIQ.Ai Deep learning AI-based platform

 

The next generation of IXICO's novel AI platform with proven benefits,
providing more sensitivity, accuracy and flexibility in CNS trials

 

IXICO plc (AIM: IXI), the medical imaging advanced analytics company
delivering intelligent insights in neuroscience, announces the launch of
IXIQ.Ai, a novel platform for brain segmentation based on convolutional neural
networks. The platform has been developed and validated in collaboration with
IXICO's academic and pharma partners and will be applied to clinical trials
from March 2022.

 

IXIQ.Ai provides IXICO's development engineers with an agile infrastructure to
enable efficient and rapid deployment of analysis solutions ("plugins") for
specific therapeutic indications or brain regions. IXIQ.Ai analysis is
performed on a MRI scan to segment the brain structure relevant to a specific
central nervous system ("CNS") indication. The platform is pre-trained on
IXICO's database of clinical trial and natural history datasets across several
CNS indications, which has benefited from machine learning improvements
developed over the past 10 years. Based on the IXIQ.Ai platform
infrastructure, plugins can be trained with a reduced number of highly curated
datasets to obtain an optimised solution for a specific segmentation problem.
IXIQ.Ai will include pre-developed and validated plugins for applications in
Huntington's disease ("HD") and Alzheimer's Disease ("AD").

 

Scientific presentations with IXICO's academic and pharma partners have shown
benefits of IXIQ.Ai over widely used brain imaging tools in three areas:

 

1.            Sensitivity to smaller treatment effects - every
datapoint matters in efficacy analysis of imaging endpoints to increase the
ability of detecting a treatment effect and, ultimately, to manage trial size,
development time and costs; thereby improving overall efficiency in running
clinical trials. The IXIQ.Ai platform increases the amount of usable data by
10%-20% on standard brain regions and can more than double it for challenging
brain regions when compared to widely used tools, enabling the detection of
proportionally smaller treatment effects without increasing trial size [1, 2].

 

2.            Accuracy that enables patient-level decision making -
a move towards precision medicine, as well as increasingly sophisticated drug
candidates and administration modes in neuroscience, encourage applications of
brain volumetry that drive individual patient decisions. Moving away from
group-level statistics increases the requirements on accurate and reliable
measurements at the patient level. Compared to widely used tools, IXIQ.Ai
reduces volume error to manual expert segmentations by up to 80%, enabling
more accurate patient-level decision-making. IXIQ.Ai provides measurements in
real-time, enabling quick turnarounds in critical eligibility decisions [3,
4].

 

3.            Flexibility to adapt to customized trial needs -
using an analysis solution tailored to specific patient populations or brain
regions, enables greater accuracy compared to one-size-fits-all solutions.
IXIQ.Ai can be flexibly adapted to a specific patient population by using only
a small number of highly curated training cases, offering a customisable
solution to address specific trial needs  3 .

 

The launch of IXIQ.Ai  is scheduled to coincide  with the 17
(https://web.cvent.com/event/a0991146-7ae2-4f10-bc6c-0bf856caac34/summary?locale=en-US&i=OMxjxHScJku7rl-0LZ1KtA)
(th
(https://web.cvent.com/event/a0991146-7ae2-4f10-bc6c-0bf856caac34/summary?locale=en-US&i=OMxjxHScJku7rl-0LZ1KtA)
) Annual Huntington's Disease Therapeutics Conference:
(https://web.cvent.com/event/a0991146-7ae2-4f10-bc6c-0bf856caac34/summary?locale=en-US&i=OMxjxHScJku7rl-0LZ1KtA)
A Forum for Drug Discovery & Development
(https://web.cvent.com/event/a0991146-7ae2-4f10-bc6c-0bf856caac34/summary?locale=en-US&i=OMxjxHScJku7rl-0LZ1KtA)
- 28(th) Feb - 3(rd) March, Palm Springs, CA, where IXICO is presenting with
pharma and academic partners on the application of the platform in HD imaging.
Further validation of the AD workstream will be presented at the 16(th)
International Conference on Alzheimer's & Parkinson's Diseases - 15(th) -
20(th) March, Barcelona.

 

These presentations will be made available on the Company's website shortly
after the conferences here: https://ixico.com/news-and-resources/events/
(https://ixico.com/news-and-resources/events/)

 

Dr. Robin Wolz, Chief Scientific Officer at IXICO, commented: "We are pleased
to launch IXIQ.Ai into production and see it used on our first clinical trials
and would like to thank our collaborators for supporting our thorough
development and validation process. IXIQ.Ai is the next generation of IXICO's
technology platform that has been continuously invested in, and developed,
across more than 10 years: with novel AI tools like deep learning and
increasing numbers of curated datasets at our disposal, we are excited to make
available this new platform that enables the accurate and automated
measurement of some of the most complex brain structures that play a key role
in understanding CNS diseases. Initial applications are focused on areas with
a high unmet need, and we are already planning application of the platform
across a wider range of indications to enable the provision of insights
previously not possible. It is the development and application of validated AI
solutions in imaging systems such as IXIQ.Ai which are critical to the
delivery of increased accuracy within the clinical development process, whilst
simultaneously reducing the cost; a cornerstone of the pharmaceutical
industry's continuous efforts to increase the return on investment of drug
development and encourage wider efforts to identify disease modifying
treatments for devastating diseases such as dementia."

 

References:

 1  J. Weatheritt, R. Joules, R. Wolz, D. Rueckert, Fully Automatic AI
Segmentation of Subcortical Regions; Neurotherapeutics (2020) 17:S1-S41, page
521.

 2  M. Reinwald, E. B. Johnson, R. I. Scahill, R. Wolz, Using Artificial
Intelligence for Fast, Reliable, and Automatic Segmentation of the Thalamus;
Neurotherapeutics (2020) 17:S1-S41, page 513.

 3  J. Weatheritt, D. Rueckert, R. Wolz, Transfer Learning for Brain
Segmentation: Pre-task Selection and Data Limitations, Communications in
Computer and Information Science, 1248, pg 118-30

 4  J. Weatheritt, M. Reinwald, B. Brito, R. Wolz, AUTOMATIC SEGMENTATION
USING DEEP LEARNING FOR THE HIPPOCAMPUS, AD/PD 2021: 15th International
Conference on Alzheimer's & Parkinson's Diseases.

 

For further information please contact:

 

 IXICO plc                                                  +44 (0)20 3763 7498
 Giulio Cerroni, Chief Executive Officer

 Grant Nash, Chief Financial Officer

 Cenkos Securities PLC (Nominated adviser and sole broker)                   +44 (0)20 7397 8900
 Giles Balleny / Max Gould (Corporate Finance)
 Michael F Johnson / Tamar Cranford-Smith (Sales)

 Walbrook PR Ltd     +44 (0)20 7933 8780

 Paul McManus / Lianne Applegarth /      IXICO@walbrookpr.com
 Alice Woodings

 

 

About IXICO | Advanced Analytics | Intelligent Insights.

IXICO is dedicated to delivering insights in neuroscience to help transform
the advancement of investigational therapies for neurological diseases, such
as Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. The
Company's purpose is to advance medicine and human health by turning data into
clinically meaningful information, providing valuable new insights in
neuroscience by supporting pharmaceutical companies across all phases of CNS
clinical research. IXICO's goal is to be a leading advocate of artificial
intelligence in medical image analysis.

 

IXICO has developed and deployed breakthrough data analytics, at scale,
through its remote access technology platform, to improve the return on
investment in drug development and reduce risk and uncertainty in clinical
trials for the Company's pharmaceutical clients.

 

More information is available on www.IXICO.com (http://www.IXICO.com)  and
follow us on Twitter @IXICOnews

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