POAI Subsidiary Helomics Continues Progress Towards Goal of Developing an AI-Driven Predictive Model of Ovarian Cancer

MINNEAPOLIS, March 31, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Predictive Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: POAI) (“POAI” or “the Company”), a knowledge-driven company focused on applying artificial intelligence (“AI”) to personalized medicine and drug discovery, today announced continued progress towards by its Helomics subsidiary towards the goal of developing an AI-driven predictive model of ovarian cancer (CancerQuest 2020).

CancerQuest2020 (CCQ2020) is focused on building an AI-driven model of ovarian cancer that will predict drug response and outcome. Predictive models embody the knowledge from these profiles to create a “computational expert” or a “virtual patient” that can be queried. Predictive models such as these are of high value to Pharmaceutical companies as they can be used to quickly select patients for clinical trials and assess potential new drugs or biomarkers computationally (so called “in silico”) before initiating expensive laboratory experiments. Simply put, our predictive models will save time and money in the search for new targeted therapies.

Using the power of AI, the model draws on data generated from over 150,000 tumor cases obtained from 15+ years of clinical testing on living patient tumors, bringing together multi-omic data, i.e. drug response, genomic (mutations), transcriptomic (gene expression) and tissue-omic (tumor pathology) profiles to predict drug response and outcome.

“Despite some headwinds imposed by the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Helomics team has been working diligently to meet both our clinical testing priorities for ovarian cancer patients and their oncologists,  as well as maintaining progress on data generation for CCQ2020” commented Gerald Vardzel, President of Helomics. “Also, we received our formal letter of compliance today for our CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) recertification survey conducted on March 10, 2020. Results of this survey showed all requirements were met and that we were in full compliance with applicable regulations,” added Dr Arlette Uihlein, Helomics Medical Director and Vice President, Operations and Pathology Services

“In a true team effort across the company  we have made solid progress on our CCQ2020 milestones this quarter; we ramped up our sequencing effort as part of our UPMC-Magee collaboration; initiated further digitization of our histopathology slide collection; renewed our collaboration with Genomics England 100,000 genomes project and completed development of our AI model build framework so we can train millions of potential models at scale using cloud resources,” indicated Dr. Mark Collins, Helomics CTO.

POAI is bringing precision medicine, or tailored medical treatment using the individual characteristics of each patient, to the treatment of cancer. Through the company’s Helomics division, the company leverages its unique, clinically validated patient derived (PDx) smart tumor profiling platform to provide oncologists with a road map to help individualize therapy. In addition, the company is leveraging artificial intelligence and its proprietary database of over 150,000 cancer tumors to build AI-driven models of tumor drug response to improve outcomes for the patients of today and tomorrow.

For more information about Predictive Oncology, please visit www.predictive-oncology.com.

About Predictive Oncology Inc.

Predictive Oncology (Nasdaq: POAI) operates through three segments (Domestic, International and other), which contain four subsidiaries; Helomics, TumorGenesis, Skyline Medical and Skyline Europe. Helomics applies artificial intelligence to its rich data gathered from patient tumors to both personalize cancer therapies for patients and drive the development of new targeted therapies in collaborations with pharmaceutical companies. Helomics’ CLIA-certified lab provides clinical testing that assists oncologists in individualizing patient treatment decisions, by providing an evidence-based roadmap for therapy. In addition to its proprietary precision oncology platform, Helomics offers boutique CRO services that leverage its TruTumor™, patient-derived tumor models coupled to a wide range of multi-omics assays (genomics, proteomics and biochemical), and an AI-powered proprietary bioinformatics platform to provide a tailored solution to its clients’ specific needs. Predictive Oncology’s TumorGenesis subsidiary is developing a new rapid approach to growing tumors in the laboratory, which essentially “fools” cancer cells into thinking they are still growing inside a patient. Its proprietary Oncology Discovery Technology Platform kits will assist researchers and clinicians to identify which cancer cells bind to specific biomarkers. Once the biomarkers are identified they can be used in TumorGenesis’ Oncology Capture Technology Platforms which isolate and help categorize an individual patient’s heterogeneous tumor samples to enable the development of patient specific treatment options. Helomics and TumorGenesis are focused on ovarian cancer. Predictive Oncology’s Skyline Medical division markets its patented and FDA cleared STREAMWAY System, which automates the collection, measurement and disposal of waste fluid, including blood, irrigation fluid and others, within a medical facility, through both domestic and international divisions. The company has achieved sales in five of the seven continents through both direct sales and distributor partners. For more information, please visit www.predictive-oncology.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain of the matters discussed in the press release contain forward-looking statements that involve material risks to and uncertainties in the Company’s business that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements made herein. Such risks and uncertainties include (i) the Company’s inability to consummate the private placement due to the failure of one or more closing conditions set forth in the securities purchase agreement to be satisfied, (ii) risks associated with general economic and market conditions, (iii) risks related to the recent merger with Helomics, including the fact that the combined company will not be able to continue operating without additional financing; possible failure to realize anticipated benefits of the merger; costs associated with the merger may be higher than expected; the merger may result in disruption of the Company’s and Helomics’ existing businesses, distraction of management and diversion of resources; and the market price of the Company’s common stock may decline as a result of the merger; (iii) risks related to our partnerships with other companies, including the need to negotiate the definitive agreements; possible failure to realize anticipated benefits of these partnerships; and costs of providing funding to our partner companies, which may never be repaid or provide anticipated returns; and (iv) other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company that include, among other things, current negative operating cash flows and a need for additional funding to finance our operating plan; the terms of any further financing, which may be highly dilutive and may include onerous terms; unexpected costs and operating deficits, and lower than expected sales and revenues; sales cycles that can be longer than expected, resulting in delays in projected sales or failure to make such sales; uncertain willingness and ability of customers to adopt new technologies and other factors that may affect further market acceptance, if our product is not accepted by our potential customers, it is unlikely that we will ever become profitable; adverse economic conditions; adverse results of any legal proceedings; the volatility of our operating results and financial condition; inability to attract or retain qualified senior management personnel, including sales and marketing personnel; our ability to establish and maintain the proprietary nature of our technology through the patent process, as well as our ability to possibly license from others patents and patent applications necessary to develop products; Predictive’s ability to implement its long range business plan for various applications of its technology; Predictive’s ability to enter into agreements with any necessary marketing and/or distribution partners and with any strategic or joint venture partners; the impact of competition, the obtaining and maintenance of any necessary regulatory clearances applicable to applications of Predictive’s technology; and management of growth and other risks and uncertainties that may be detailed from time to time in the Company’s reports filed with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities and does not purport to be an analysis of Predictive’s financial position. See Predictive’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and subsequent reports and other filings at www.sec.gov.

Contact:

Bob Myers
651-389-4800
[email protected]