Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Artificial Intelligence to transform Drug and Chemical safety testing

Project description

Computer-assisted drug safety and toxicity assessment

Drug production, from discovery to market, is a complex and arduous process that involves substantial time, resources and risks. One crucial aspect involves subjecting drugs to safety and toxicity testing, wherein thousands of tissue sections are manually assessed by veterinary pathologists trained in toxicology. However, the scarcity of such pathologists poses a significant challenge. The EU-funded PATH-TOX project will develop a computer-aided diagnostic system called PATHOLYTIX-TOX. This innovative solution aims to streamline the toxicologic pathology review process. The project will optimise the image analysis engine to improve performance and expand its use for other tissues. PATH-TOX will also develop the user interface, data management and cloud framework. By leveraging AI technology, it further aims to enhance efficiency and accessibility in drug development processes.

Objective

Drug discovery is a time consuming, expensive and risky process. Each drug to market must undergo safety/ toxicity testing in animals which yields thousands of tissue sections that currently must be assessed manually by a trained veterinary pathology. However, there is a looming crisis due to the lack pathologists.

The PATH-TOX consortium is led by Irish SME, Deciphex Ltd, and includes key partners such as Janssen Pharmaceuticals in Belgium and Pathology Data Systems Ltd a Swiss based SME. They are creating PATHOLYTIX-TOX a computer aided diagnostic system to streamline the pathology review process. Using state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) image analysis tools it will automatically identify the normal and abnormal tissues upfront, allowing the pathologist to focus mainly on the abnormal cases, hence accelerate workflow.

To date, we have built a working prototype of the image analysis engine, which can identify abnormal tissue in liver. In this project we will optimise the engine further to improve performance and expand its use into other tissues. We will also develop other features such as the user interface, data management and cloud framework. Once developed, we will perform a comprehensive validation and benchmarking study to compare to manual pathology assessment.

There is a large, growing, global target market for PATHOLYTIX-TOX. Pharma and CROs worldwide routinely perform thousands of animal toxicology tests each year, who are potential customers. With regards to competitors, there is no direct competition. Competitors offer individual components of the pathological workflow, not fit-for-purpose solutions for the toxicology pathology market.

Overall, PATHOLYTIX would have a big impact on drug development, by reducing the time required for pathology review and associated costs. This should have a knock on effect for the global and EU markets, reducing time and cost for new drugs to get to market.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

IA - Innovation action

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-FTI-2018-2020

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICA NV
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 134 531,25
Address
TURNHOUTSEWEG 30
2340 Beerse
Belgium

See on map

Region
Vlaams Gewest Prov. Antwerpen Arr. Turnhout
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 192 187,50

Participants (2)

My booklet 0 0