Neogap and Simsen Diagnostics start collaboration to improve personalized cancer diagnostics

Biotech company Neogap and cancer diagnostics company Simsen Diagnostics have initiated a collaboration aimed at improving personalized cancer diagnostics by examining circulating tumor DNA in the blood of patients participating in Neogap’s Phase I/II clinical trial. The goal is to develop more accurate and efficient diagnostic tools for cancer.

Neogap is developing a therapy that identifies so-called neoantigens, which are tumor-specific proteins created as a result of changes in the DNA of tumor cells. The set of these proteins is unique to each patient and distinguishes tumor tissue from healthy tissue. Thus, Neogap can use the identification of neoantigens to target its treatment specifically to the patient’s tumor cells. This provides the potential for a potent tumor-directed therapy that spares healthy tissue. Simsen Diagnostics’ personalized technology can use the same information about the coding sequences behind neoantigens to create molecular tests to monitor the level of cancer in the blood. For each patient, 15-30 unique changes are selected to create a personalized test with extremely high sensitivity and specificity.

“When we realized that we could use the same information from the patients to both treat and monitor the results, we created an interesting collaboration at a scientific level. It will be very interesting to see if we can see a difference in how the level of different neoantigen-encoding molecules changes in the blood during treatment”

Gustav Johansson, CEO of Simsen Diagnostics.

Simsen Diagnostics’ assessment is that in the future they can use the personalized tests in healthcare. Neogap’s software PIOR, which already meets high quality requirements, can become an important tool to simplify the implementation of Simsen Diagnostics’ technology for clinical diagnostics. The companies have agreed to evaluate the software to explore more commercial applications for PIOR.

About Simsen Diagnostics

Simsen Diagnostics develops ultra-sensitive and easy-to-use technologies for reading DNA sequences. The company currently has customers in the pharmaceutical industry where they provide a service for measuring cancer DNA in blood samples in clinical studies. The technology has a wide range of applications outside the field of cancer. The company is based at Sahlgrenska Science Park in Gothenburg and is founded on innovation from Anders Ståhlberg’s group at Sahlgrenska Academy. For more information visit Simsen Diagnostics website www.simsendiagnostics.com

About NEOGAP Therapeutics

NEOGAP Therapeutics is a Swedish biotech company developing a personalized immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer using the patient’s own cells. The therapy is based on the company’s two technologies: PIOR®, a software that uses DNA sequencing data from the patient’s tumor and machine learning to select tumor-specific mutations. It then uses EpiTCer®, a method for propagating the T cells that recognize the selected tumor-specific targets. NEOGAP is located at the Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. For more information, visit the company’s website neogap.se.

Pontus Rehn

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Pontus Rehn has over 20 years of experience in commercial leadership roles in the medical device and IVD industries, including global and regional positions like VP Market Development, Chief Commercial Officer, and Director of Commercial Strategy. 

Lina Said

Laboratory and Quality Manager

Lina Said, a licensed Biomedical Scientist, brings 18 years of experience from Sahlgrenska University Hospital to her role as the Lab and Quality Manager at Simsen Diagnostics. Her primary focus is ensuring quality assurance and fostering an optimal work environment for the lab. 

My Vu

Lead Laboratory Technician

My Vu is currently doing a master’s degree in biotechnology and demonstrates expertise in laboratory procedures. Her previous experience includes analyzing COVID samples and conducting her bachelor’s thesis at Fraunhofer. My is analyzing all the samples that comes to the lab.  

Stefan Filges

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Stefan Filges, an accomplished bioinformatician with a Ph.D. in ultrasensitive sequencing, became part of Simsen Diagnostics in 2022. He played a crucial role as a co-author in the original publication of SiMSen-Seq, which was published in Nature Protocols. 

Camilla Hietanen

Head of Sales and Marketing

Camilla Hietanen holds an M.Sc. in Business Development from the Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship. Her academic background encompasses studies in Sports & Nutrition, and she brings prior experience from various Start-ups. Within Simsen Diagnostics, her primary focus lies in Sales and Marketing. 

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