Caris Life Sciences and COTA, Inc. collaborate to drive oncology drug development using real-world data

Written by Katie McCool
Artificial intelligence and machine learning News Oncology and hematology
A Dr in a lab coat and wearing a stethoscope writes on a tablet. She is sitting next to a cancer patient with a scarf wrapped around her head. The patient is also looking at the tablet. To represent that Caris and COTA partner for oncology drug development with RWD

Caris Life Sciences, a leading AI-powered precision medicine company, and COTA, Inc., an oncology data and analytics provider, have joined forces to combine their multi-modal data offerings. The collaboration aims to drive advancements in biopharmaceutical drug development and improve patient care in oncology.

Caris Life Sciences is focused on developing innovative healthcare solutions, emphasizing molecular science and AI to enhance patient outcomes through personalized medicine approaches. COTA, Inc. is an oncology data and analytics company that provides real-world data (RWD) and insights to major pharmaceutical companies globally. Known for its high-quality, curated clinical data and analytics solutions, COTA provides valuable information for advancing research and drug development in oncology.

According to Brian Lamon, PhD, Chief Business Officer at Caris,

“Caris’ partnership with COTA will enable biopharma to leverage a more complete dataset to power research and AI approaches for therapeutic development. This breadth of data allows the flexibility to build specific cohorts for understanding mechanisms of resistance, determinants of response and relevant biomarkers to improve success of their clinical trials.”

By combining Caris’ expertise in DNA, RNA, and imaging data with COTA’s curated clinical data, the collaboration aims to create a comprehensive RWD platform. This platform is expected to drive the next generation of therapeutic development in oncology, as life sciences researchers will be able to capture previously unseen insights to optimize cancer treatments and improve patient outcomes.

Caris has built a molecular-rich, multi-modal database generated from nearly 10 million tests, containing over 60 petabytes of oncology-specific data, including DNA, RNA, and imaging. Caris was the first in the molecular diagnostic industry to offer Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) DNA coverage and Whole Transcriptome Sequencing (WTS) RNA coverage for every viable sample.

COTA’s data encompasses more than two million cancer patients treated across 200 care sites, representing diverse settings across the US, including academic medical centers and community practices. This extensive dataset, derived from electronic health records, provides a powerful representative picture of cancer care in the country and serves as a valuable resource for life sciences companies developing personalized cancer treatments.

Dr CK Wang, Chief Medical Officer at COTA, emphasizes the significance of combining the two companies’ data assets, stating,

“By combining COTA’s high-quality, curated data sourced from electronic health records with Caris’ molecular data, life sciences researchers will be able to capture previously unseen insights to optimize cancer treatments that can improve a patient’s prognosis and quality of life.”

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