InterVenn Biosciences, a glycoproteomics company headquartered in California, is set to bring its AI-driven research and clinical analysis solutions in the Philippine market after recently announcing the launch of its local office located in Pasig.
In a statement, the company said that the site represents its solidified hold in the Southeast Asian region, and doubles as a homecoming for its AI team that is made up mostly of Filipinos and co-founder and CEO Aldo Carrascoso who also leads the blockchain-based payments platform Veem.
InterVenn currently has two products that are commercially available: the liquid-biopsy laboratory-developed test Glori, the immuno-therapy response prediction system Dawn IO, and ten other projects from its product pipeline which are already in varying stages of development.
“InterVenn has made significant progress in early cancer detection thanks to the brilliant and dedicated Filipino engineers we have on board. They help build and maintain the front end, back end, and cloud infrastructure of our next-generation liquid biopsy, as we all work together to reach a world where no one should ever be blindsided by disease,” Carrascoso explained.
The company’s analytical platform operates under a non-traditional approach that unites mass spectrometry and AI, with large human-curated datasets reinforcing machine learning and AI algorithms to enhance the overall data processing of proteomic and epi-proteomic data.
From a broader perspective, InterVenn hopes to leverage on the individual connections between protein glycosylation and disease to deliver more accurate diagnostics, map out prognostic and predictive biomarkers, and identify targeted therapy opportunities.
There are now seven projects of InterVenn under the proof-of-concept stage: early detection for non-small cell lung cancer and pancreas carcinoma, differentiation between indolent and aggressive variants for renal cell and prostate cancer, and early detection plus clinical decision application for non-alcoholic SteatoHepatitis (NASH), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
“Our research is a major step towards a truly universal healthcare. We’re proud to be making these phenomenal developments in the Philippines, and we look forward to working with more local stakeholders in the future,” Carrascoso added.
To date, over 100 Filipino developers and engineers are running InterVenn’s software engineering stream, the backbone that supports the proprietary AI technology used for its research.
“One hundred percent of our software is proudly Philippine-made. We started this venture with the goal of not just having the means of finding a cure and early detection for cancer, but to also showcase to everyone that we Filipinos can achieve this on a global scale,” said InterVenn Philippines general manager Axel Kornerup.
While the application on other tumor types is still being explored, InterVenn is setting its eyes on greater development and commercialization of Dawn IO which was unveiled last month at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and what’s driving the aggressive recruitment and expansion initiatives of the company in this region.
