Cellworks Group Inc., a leader in personalized therapy decision support and precision drug development, recently announced the results of a study demonstrating the accuracy of its biosimulation platform in predicting overall survival (OS) and chemotherapy benefits in two real-world cohorts of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The study highlights Cellworks’ capability to enhance personalized cancer treatment by identifying NSCLC patients who are most likely to benefit from a combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy, regardless of PD-L1 levels, thus optimizing treatment strategies and improving patient outcomes.
The study results were presented on September 10, 2024, at the IASLC 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer in San Diego, California. Dr. Mark Klein, MD, of the Minneapolis VA Healthcare System and the University of Minnesota, delivered the presentation titled, “Use of Biosimulation to Predict Chemotherapy Benefit in Patients with Metastatic NSCLC Being Treated with Immunotherapy.” The study demonstrates how Cellworks’ biosimulation can predict chemotherapy benefits for NSCLC patients, improving treatment strategies beyond reliance on PD-L1 levels.
Dr. Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, from the University of Pennsylvania and a Principal Investigator of the study, highlighted the lack of reliable biomarkers to identify NSCLC patients who might benefit from adding chemotherapy to immunotherapy. The study suggests that the Cellworks Computational Biology Model (CBM) and Therapy Response Index (TRI) could fill this gap by predicting chemotherapy benefits.
Dr. Michael Castro, Chief Medical Officer at Cellworks, noted that while PD-L1 is the standard biomarker for selecting NSCLC patients for immunotherapy, it doesn’t predict chemotherapy benefit. Using Cellworks’ biosimulation approach, which analyzes a tumor’s genomic profile and signaling pathway dysregulation, offers a more accurate prediction of chemotherapy benefits, refining patient management and advancing precision oncology.
Study Design
The Cellworks TRI algorithm was trained on a cohort of 553 NSCLC patients from the U.S. Veterans Health Administration who underwent genomic profiling by Foundation Medicine. It was then validated prospectively on an independent cohort of 710 advanced NSCLC patients from the Flatiron Health-Foundation Medicine NSCLC clinico-genomic database. The biosimulation, conducted using the Cellworks CBM, predicts changes in biomarker concentrations and cancer phenotypes based on genomic aberrations and therapeutic interventions, generating the TRI to predict patient outcomes.
Study Results
The TRI was significantly associated with overall survival (OS), independent of PD-L1 levels (p = 0.036). Patients with a high TRI score (≥ 32) showed no benefit from adding chemotherapy, while those with a low TRI score (< 32) experienced an estimated median OS improvement of about 3 months when chemotherapy was added to immunotherapy.
The Cellworks Platform
The Cellworks Platform uses biosimulation to predict the effects of specific drug compounds on patients based on their multi-omic profiles. The Cellworks CBM, comprising over 6,000 human genes, 30,000 molecular species, and 600,000 molecular interactions, simulates the impact of drugs on patients, generating a qualitative TRI score from 0 (unfavorable outcome) to 100 (favorable outcome). The CBM has been tested against various clinical datasets, with results published in over 125 presentations and collaborations worldwide.
About Cellworks Group
Cellworks Group, Inc. is a leader in personalized therapy decision support and precision drug development. Using its advanced CBM and biosimulation technology, Cellworks predicts therapy responses for patients and cohorts. Supported by major investors like Artiman Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and UnitedHealth Group, Cellworks aims to improve patient outcomes through its unique blend of molecular biology, pathway modeling, and software engineering expertise.
