
NEC OncoImmunity AS and Oslo University Hospital Team Up to Develop a Diagnostic for COVID-19 Using Artificial Intelligence
NEC OncoImmunity AS (NOI), a subsidiary of NEC Corporation (NEC), and Oslo University Hospital (OUH) are pleased to announce that they have recently been awarded a prestigious grant from the Research Council of Norway (RCN) to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) platform that will enable the rapid design of T-cell diagnostics for emerging or endemic infectious diseases. The project will develop a novel T-cell diagnostic for the current COVID-19 pandemic to complement the current serological tests. This will improve the ability to identify immune responses and acquired immunity, which is desperately needed to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.
Current technologies involve extensive trial and error to define exactly which parts of the pathogen induces robust immunity. These so-called immunodominant epitopes need to be identified for the general population. These demanding, work-intensive and time-consuming steps are necessary to develop tests to monitor the T-cell response to viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 (the infectious virus that causes COVID-19).
Reliable diagnostic tests to identify immune individuals are critical to overcome the ever-looming threat of COVID-19. The AI-based diagnostic to be developed in this project will complement antibody tests and enable individuals who are naturally immune to the virus following infection with SARS-CoV-2 or other seasonal coronaviruses, or who have acquired immunity following vaccination, to be identified.
“Antibody tests are an important aspect of understanding the immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 infection and will remain a mainstay of its diagnosis. However, protective SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses occur in antibody-negative infected individuals who have successfully resolved the infection. In addition, we may already have underlying immunity in the population due to cross reactivity to endemic seasonal human coronaviruses,” said Professor Ludvig A. Munthe Ph.D., Head of Research and Group Leader, Department of Immunology, Oslo University Hospital.
Although the technology to develop antibody diagnostics is readily available, this is not the case for T-cell diagnostics, which currently represents a “blind spot” for the monitoring of immunity to COVID-19 in the world’s population. To address this important gap, NOI and OUH, with the support of RCN, have now committed themselves to develop an AI-designed T-cell diagnostic that monitors the underlying T-cell response to the infection. Developing a reliable T-cell diagnostic comes with specific technological challenges with solutions offered by the NEC Immune Profiler at NOI to cater for the global human population.
“T-cells are known to play a central role for initial and long term immunity against viruses. However, T-cell responses are highly variable between different pathogens and genetic groups in the human population, making the prospect of developing reliable universal T-cell diagnostics for COVID-19 challenging. This challenge has inspired the scientists at NOI to use our AI to seek out the T-cell response to infection as a diagnostic signal. In this project we look forward to adapting the NEC Immune Profiler and other AI technologies at NEC Corporation and leveraging them to develop a COVID-19 T-cell diagnostic for the diverse genetic makeup in the global human population,” said Trevor Clancy Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, NEC OncoImmunity AS.
The development of such an AI platform will not only help to contact-trace and control transmission against COVID-19. In fact, the platform developed by NOI and NEC in this project will be to a large degree pathogen/disease agnostic and may be used in future emergency settings to rapidly develop novel diagnostics against new emerging pandemics caused by novel dangerous infectious agents.
“The AI platform will be applied first to the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, we will design this platform to be future-proof and make it applicable to any future emerging infectious agent that could threaten the global population. This will open up new exciting opportunities in the growing infectious disease diagnostics market for our company,” said Richard Stratford Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, NEC OncoImmunity AS.
It has been over a century since the world has encountered a pandemic like COVID-19. The pandemic has taken over one million lives to date, and the spread of COVID-19 around the globe and the associated mortality has been devastating. The pandemic has sparked fears of a chronic worldwide recession. Shut-downs, social distancing and travel restrictions have reduced the capacity of the global workforce and destroyed many jobs and businesses. The NOI and OUH collaboration marks an important initiative to develop a reliable diagnostic test that can identify immune members of the global population following natural infection with SARS-CoV-2 or other seasonal coronaviruses.
“A reliable T-cell diagnostic to help alleviate the socio-economic and serious health burden caused by COVID-19 will be important for the world community to overcome this present pandemic crisis. We are proud that NEC's AI technology can contribute to the resolution of the COVID-19 threat. As a company that seeks to enhance the well-being of society, NEC will continue to capitalize on research and development that maximizes the strengths of our AI technology to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and protect the human population against future pandemic threats,” said Akira Kitamura, General Manager of the AI Drug Development Division, NEC Corporation.
About NEC OncoImmunity AS
NEC OncoImmunity AS is a bioinformatics company offering proprietary machine learning-based software called the NEC Immune Profiler, which addresses the key knowledge gaps in the prediction of bona fide immunogenic neoantigens for personalized cancer immunotherapy. The NEC Immune Profiler can be used to identify optimal neoantigen targets for truly personalized cancer vaccines & cell therapies in a clinically actionable timeframe, and also facilitate effective patient selection for cancer immunotherapy. For more information, visit NEC OncoImmunity AS at http://www.oncoimmunity.com/.
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation has established itself as a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies while promoting the brand statement of “Orchestrating a brighter world.” NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to rapid changes taking place in both society and the market as it provides for the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com. For additional information, please also visit NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH at: http://www.neclab.eu
About Oslo University Hospital
Oslo University Hospital is a part of Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority and an OECI-accredited Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC). Each year, more than 1.2 million patient treatments are carried out at the hospital, which is the largest of its kind in Scandinavia. Oslo University Hospital is owned by the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (HSØ) and delivers specialist healthcare services to patients all over Norway. Oslo University Hospital is Norway’s largest hospital with around 20,000 employees and is responsible for a significant proportion of the medical research and the education of medical personnel in the country. More information about Oslo University Hospital can be found at https://oslo-universitetssykehus.no.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201008005351/en/
Contact information
NEC OncoImmunity AS:
Trevor Clancy Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer, NEC OncoImmunity AS
Phone: +47 41431242
Email: trevor@oncoimmunity.com
Oslo University Hospital:
Ludvig Munthe Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital
Phone: +47 93461540
Email: ludvig@uio.no
About Business Wire
(c) 2018 Business Wire, Inc., All rights reserved.
Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in multiplatform press release distribution.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
H.I.G. Capital Announces the Sale of DGS S.p.A.11.6.2024 12:00:00 CEST | Press release
H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global alternative investment firm with $62 billion of capital under management, is pleased to announce that an affiliate has signed a definitive agreement to sell its portfolio company, DGS S.p.A. (“DGS” or the “Group”), a leading firm in the Italian Information Technology market, to DGS Co-Founders and management team in partnership with ICG, a global alternative asset manager. Since its inception in 1997, DGShas supported blue-chip customers in the design, integration, and maintenance of complex IT systems, with a specialization in digital transformation and cybersecurity services. The Group currently has over 1,900 employees, revenues of approximately €300 million, and maintains a group of highly loyal clientele. During H.I.G.’s ownership, DGS has tripled in size and consolidated its position as a leading Italian firm in cybersecurity services and digital transformation. DGS offers its clients sophisticated and proprietary digital transformation
Evertas Names Nick Selby Head of European Underwriting11.6.2024 12:00:00 CEST | Press release
Evertas, the world’s first crypto insurance company, has named Nick Selby as its new Head of European Underwriting. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240611141887/en/ Nick Selby, Executive Vice President and Head of European Underwriting at Evertas (Photo: Business Wire) Selby, an accomplished information and physical security professional, brings two decades of expertise in public and private sector information security, physical security, and complex incident handling, as well as seven years of experience leading teams securing billions of dollars in cryptoassets. Previously, his roles included VP of the Software Assurance Practice at Trail of Bits, Chief Security Officer at Paxos Trust Company, and Director of Cyber Intelligence and Investigations at the NYPD Intelligence Bureau. “Nick is an extremely valuable addition to our European team,” said Evertas CEO and Co-Founder J. Gdanski. “His public and private
Owlet utvider globalt fotavtrykk med lanseringen av medisinsk-sertifisert Dream Sock™ i Storbritannia og over hele Europa11.6.2024 11:00:00 CEST | Pressemelding
Owlet, Inc. («Owlet» or the «Company») (NYSE:OWLT), pioneren innen smart spedbarnsovervåking, kunngjør i dag den britiske og europeiske lanseringen av Dream Sock. Dette er en smart babymonitor med levende helseavlesninger og varsler for friske spedbarn mellom 0-18 måneder og 2,5-13,6 kg. Dette innovative medisinske utstyret gir foreldre helse og viktig informasjon i sanntid, noe som gir uovertruffen trygghet. Denne pressemeldingen inneholder multimedia. Se hele pressemeldingen her: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240611820341/no/ (Photo: Business Wire) «Vi er svært stolte over å lansere Dream Sock til omsorgspersoner over hele Storbritannia og Europa og gi millioner av foreldre mer trygghet mens babyen sover,» sa Kurt Workman, Owlets administrerende direktør og medgründer. «Dream Sock er nå et globalt produkt som er anerkjent som medisinsk nøyaktig og trygt, etter å ha gjennomgått regulatoriske autorisasjoner og sertifiseringer innenfor flere geografier. I dag er misjonen vår
V-Nova Surpasses 1000 Patent Milestone in Media Technology Innovation11.6.2024 10:00:00 CEST | Press release
V-Nova, a leading provider of data compression solutions, video compression technology, XR technology, AI acceleration and parallel processing for a multitude of industries including media and entertainment, today announced its milestone achievement of 1000 active technology patents. This accomplishment underscores V-Nova’s dedication to research and development and its commitment to protecting its intellectual property globally. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240611724561/en/ V-Nova’s patent portfolio spans more than 50 different jurisdictions. Including over 400 patents in Europe, over 200 in the Americas, over 100 in the United States specifically, and over 200 in Asia. V-Nova forged new directions in data processing to enhance digital experiences, maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and increase sustainability. The company leads the way with key international data compression standards for the video indust
Alipay+ Reveals Top Scorer Trophy Design for UEFA EURO 2024™11.6.2024 09:24:00 CEST | Press release
Alipay+, a suite of cross-border mobile payment and digitalization technology solutions operated by Ant International and an Official Partner of UEFA EURO 2024™, today revealed the trophy that will be awarded to the most prolific marksman at the UEFA EURO 2024™ finale on July 14 in Berlin, Germany. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240610328619/en/ The UEFA Top Scorer Trophy presented by Alipay+ is unveiled for UEFA EURO 2024™ (Photo: Business Wire) Sculpted in the shape of the Chinese character “支” (pronounced zhi, and meaning payment as well as support), the trophy reflects Alipay+’s dedication to supporting consumers to enjoy seamless payment and a broad choice of deals using their preferred payment methods while traveling abroad. The character also resembles the fleeting moment of a barefooted striker poised to shoot, evoking the original beauty and power of football – a game that united people across the wo