Ibex Medical, Roche Partner To Improve Cancer Care With AI

Israeli AI-powered cancer diagnostics company Ibex Medical Analytics announced this week a partnership with Roche, a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.

Under the agreement, the companies will develop an embedded image analysis workflow for pathologists to access Ibex’s AI algorithms, insights, and decision support tools using NAVIFY Digital Pathology, the cloud version of Roche’s uPath enterprise software.

Collaborations with leading AI companies like Ibex occur through Roche’s Digital Pathology Open Environment, which allows pathologists to securely access third-party AI-powered technology alongside Roche’s growing menu of AI-based image analysis tools. 

Through this partnership, customers using Roche Digital Pathology will gain access to Ibex’s innovative tools, such as algorithms that analyze prostate and breast biopsies, in addition to the AI tools already provided by Roche. Ibex’s Galen software is the first AI-powered cancer diagnostics solution in routine clinical use in pathology and is deployed in labs worldwide. These solutions empower pathologists to improve diagnostic accuracy and enable a more efficient workflow, Ibex has said.

In June, the platform received a Breakthrough Device Designation from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA’s Breakthrough Device Designation is granted to technologies that have the potential to provide more effective treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening diseases, such as cancer. Ibex says the designation will enable close collaboration with, and expedited review by the FDA, and provides formal acknowledgment of the Galen platform’s potential benefit as well as the robustness of Ibex’s clinical program.

“With the addition of Ibex’s clinical-grade image analysis tools to our NAVIFY Digital Pathology menu, we can aid pathologists and providers in delivering value-based patient care by increasing their efficiency and accuracy for higher-quality cancer diagnosis,” said Jill German, head of Roche Diagnostics Pathology Customer Area. 

The clinical-grade AI algorithms and digital workflows included in this expanded menu of tools will enable pathologists to provide accurate, efficient and timely diagnoses for their patients and support them in the detection and grading of cancer, identification of important non-cancerous features, case reporting and more. 

“Digital pathology provides the capability to introduce new, innovative ways for laboratories to improve quality and efficiency of cancer diagnosis. Together with Roche, we look forward to transforming pathology by delivering powerful AI-based tools to the fingertips of pathologists,” said Joseph Mossel, CEO and co-founder of Ibex Medical Analytics.