Visiopharm · Pathology image analysis software

Category: Press Releases

  • Visiopharm’s AI-powered image analysis software selected to analyze the largest collection of human pathology specimens in the world

    Visiopharm’s AI-powered image analysis software selected to analyze the largest collection of human pathology specimens in the world

    Visiopharm, the leader in artificial intelligence-driven image analysis, tissue mining, and precision pathology, has been selected by the Joint Pathology Center (JPC), the premier pathology reference center for the United States federal government and part of the US Defense Health Agency, to support an important initiative to modernize the largest collection of human pathology specimens in the world.

    The JPC tissue repository contains approximately 55 million glass slides, 31 million paraffin-embedded tissue blocks, and over 500,000 wet tissue samples that have been collected over the last 102 years. The repository is unparalleled in size, race, and age, and represents a priceless resource for clinicians, pathologists, and healthcare data analysts to better understand and diagnose rare diseases and cancers. 

    “JPC’s digital pathology modernization effort with Visiopharm’s AI-driven image analysis software can unlock new doors to enable biomedical research, drug discovery, and innovation,”

    Amanda Lowe, Managing Director for Visiopharm in the United States

    “JPC’s tissue repository provides access to new knowledge about human disease, and whole-slide digitization will enable access to this one-of-a-kind collection of tissue samples,” said Amanda Lowe, Managing Director for Visiopharm in the United States. “JPC’s digital pathology modernization effort with Visiopharm’s AI-driven image analysis software can unlock new doors to enable biomedical research, drug discovery, and innovation.”

    The wealth of information that will be housed within the JPC’s digital repository holds significant potential for personalized medicine, particularly for artificial intelligence algorithms that will help establish the diagnosis, prognosis, and personalized therapies for patients.

    In addition to the tissue repository, the JPC also provides cost-effective, centralized pathology subspecialty expertise and is the sole veterinary pathology training source for the US military. The JPC serves the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other federal agencies while collaborating with US and international academic and scientific institutions to advance pathology research and education.

    Regan Baird, Regional Director for Visiopharm, stated, “Visiopharm is honored to be a part of one of the largest digital pathology modernization efforts undertaken to date. It is a giant step forward for the pathology community and our country.”

  • Visiopharm announces Scientific Advisory Board

    Visiopharm®, the Denmark-based leader in artificial intelligence-driven image analysis, tissue mining, and precision pathology has announced the formation of its scientific advisory board (SAB), comprised of industry experts in digital pathology, quality assessment, oncology, and immunology.

    AI-driven Digital Precision Pathology is still a relatively new discipline. Compared to many other battle-tested modalities for diagnostics and research, there has been far less time and influx of resources for research and validation. It will take time, resources, and the sharpest scientific minds to unfold the true potential of this new technology, which has a great promise to fill an unmet need for precision medicine in cancer diagnostics.

    “Collaborations within the framework of Scientific Advisory Boards is just one of many ways academia and industry can begin to work constructively together to explore, develop and document this new technology and its potential applications in the development of new drugs and companion diagnostic biomarkers. We are excited to be working with the scientific leaders in our field, under the leadership of Dr. Ralf Huss. And we look forward to contributing to the further advancement of AI-driven precision pathology within this forum”, stated Michael Grunkin, CEO of Visiopharm.

    Chaired by Ralf Huss M.D., Ph.D., certified Pathologist, Professor of Pathology, and Managing Deputy Director of Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics at the University Hospital in Augsburg, Germany, the SAB is composed of ten additional luminaries that have extensive industry experience and bring world-class international expertise.

    Ralf Huss, states: “The creation of a Scientific Advisory Board is great next step to leverage Visiopharm’s capabilities on how we practice pathology now and in the future on the highest level of clinical and scientific excellence with consistent and reliable quality. The SAB will steer Visiopharm’s solutions to improve cancer diagnostics, and given the complexity of tissue, find novel insights that are assisted by digital and AI-supported solutions.” 

    The members of Visiopharm’s SAB are as follows:

    Marylin Bui M.D. Ph.D., Senior Member in the Department of Pathology and Scientific Director of Analytic Microscopy Core of Moffitt Cancer Center.  Professor and Director of the Cytopathology Fellowship at the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA.

    Andrew Dodson, Director UK NEQAS Immunocytochemistry and In Situ Hybridisation (ICC & ISH), London/UK.

    James L. Gulley, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.P., Chief Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Head Immunotherapy Group, GMB, Director Medical Oncology Service, Center for Cancer Research, NCI, NIH, Bethesda/Maryland, USA.

    David Harrison Ph.D., Professor of Pathology at the University of St. Andrews, UK, Director of iCAIRD.

    Anne-Vibeke Lænkholm M.D., Clinical Associate Research Professor and Senior Pathologist at the Department of Surgical Pathology, Zealand University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark.

    Prof. Dr. med. Holger Moch, Director Department of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland.

    Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Elfriede Nößner, Head of Immunoanalytics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany.

    Anil Parwani M.D. Ph.D., Professor of Pathology, Vice Chair and Director of Anatomical Pathology, Director of the Digital Pathology, OSU, Columbus/Ohio, USA.

    Bert Van der Vegt M.D. Ph.D., Histopathologist, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.

    Mogens Vyberg M.D., Professor of clinical pathology at the University of Aalborg, Copenhagen, Denmark.

    The SAB will work with Visiopharm´s leadership team to provide scientific review and high-level advice to the R&D pipeline. The SAB will be involved in strategic discussions for research and pre-clinical solutions as well as the upcoming next-generation Precision Pathology tools for cancer diagnostics. With plans to accelerate diagnostic product development and establish global regulatory programs, the board will also guide these key initiatives.

    Adrian Arechiga, Chief Marketing Officer at Visiopharm, commented, “The newly established SAB is an important step for the exciting future development of our research and diagnostic programs. The board members are pioneers in pathology, cancer research, and immunology, bringing unprecedented expertise, skills, and leading scientific perspectives that will guide Visiopharm´s ambitious growth strategy”.

  • Visiopharm strengthens the executive management team with regulatory expert Esther Abels

    Visiopharm is very pleased to announce that Esther Abels, M.Sc., has joined the company as Chief Clinical and Regulatory Officer.

    Visiopharm is on a journey to deliver next-generation AI-driven Precision Pathology tools for cancer diagnostics on a global scale. Esther brings extensive experience in Digital Pathology, Regulatory and Clinical Affairs, as well as Pharma Services for the development of new Companion Diagnostics. With upcoming novel diagnostic and quality platforms and services, Esther is the ideal candidate to contribute to Visiopharm´s transformative journey of precision pathology in diagnostics.

    Dirk Vossen, Chief Diagnostic Officer at Visiopharm, states: “We have an ambitious roadmap for standardized AI-driven precision pathology and an equally ambitious regulatory roadmap with a strong focus on the United States. I have had the privilege of working with Esther for several years at Philips, where we had to trailblaze an entirely new regulatory path for digital and computational pathology in close collaboration with the FDA. I am excited to be working with Esther again, now that the next generation of AI-driven tools for Precision Pathology requires a similar type of effort.”

    “From where I stand, Visiopharm is unique in two important ways: First, the company has grown organically for almost 20 years, and demonstrated a working deployment model in a market with a very complex pathway from biopsy to quantitative insights. Very few others have done that, and neither the efforts nor the risks should be underestimated.

    Esther Abels

    “From where I stand, Visiopharm is unique in two important ways: First, the company has grown organically for almost 20 years, and demonstrated a working deployment model in a market with a very complex pathway from biopsy to quantitative insights. Very few others have done that, and neither the efforts nor the risks should be underestimated. Second, Visiopharm has demonstrated both the commitment but also disruptive technological innovation, enabling a paradigm for standardization, including the mitigation of upstream error sources, for example, stain quality issues, calibration, and downstream in conjunction with the interpretation of tissue diagnostic assays. This addresses the clinical utility while enabling interoperability and is critical to pursue the ambition of Pathology becoming part of Precision Medicine. I am excited about contributing to this journey in this role,” stated Esther Abels.

    “Esther is indeed one of the most respected people in our industry. In collaboration with the FDA, she has contributed to establishing a regulatory pathway for digital pathology. This is a challenging field from a standardization, harmonization, and regulatory perspective, that must be addressed in a strong interdisciplinary forum. Esther is also among the co-founders of The Alliance, which is an initiative that brings together industry and regulators in a forum for constructive dialog. And she is serving on the board of the Digital Pathology Association. That makes Esther an ideal candidate for taking Visiopharm through an important strategic transition, but also one of the people with the potential to transform the entire field”, stated Michael Grunkin, CEO of Visiopharm.

  • Visiopharm strengthens its precision pathology team

    Beginning October 1, 2020, Professor Mogens Vyberg is joining the team at Visiopharm as Senior Pathology Consultant, bringing his extensive experience in pathology, stain quality assurance, tissue-based research, and services to the company.

    “In many ways, this is a logical next step in our long-standing scientific collaboration and our mutual passion for AI-driven Precision Pathology. We are excited that Mogens will now be able to devote some of his time to help us further accelerate the development, validation, and deployment of Precision Pathology tools for pathologists. These new products, in turn, will aid pathologists to discover, develop and validate novel companion diagnostics.”, stated Michael Grunkin, CEO of Visiopharm.

    Professor Vyberg is a board-certified pathologist and has a career spanning 45 years in the field of pathology with both academic and clinical appointments at Aalborg University and Aalborg University Hospital.

    In addition, Professor Vyberg has been instrumental in the area of stain quality assurance for pathology. As the co-founder and director of the international organization Nordic Immuno-histochemical Quality Control (NordiQC, www.nordiqc.org) during 2003-19 and Head of the Laboratory for Immunohistochemistry/R&D at Aalborg University Hospital, he has participated in carrying out quality assurance for more than 500 laboratories worldwide as well as the world’s leading diagnostics and pharmaceutical companies. Professor Vyberg is the author and co-author of about 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers, mostly focused on immunohistochemistry.

    “It has been exciting to see how AI is starting to make a real difference to pathologists in terms of interpretive accuracy and productivity. There is still very few incorporating standardization into the algorithmic framework. This is where Visiopharm is unique with the AI-based technology for stain quality management, which is an area that we have collaborated in for several years. It will be very satisfying to help bring this technology into the world in the near future.”

    Stated Professor Mogens Vyberg

    Dirk Vossen, Chief Diagnostic Officer, states, “We are happy to welcome Professor Vyberg, a world-renowned pathologist, as a part of our team at Visiopharm. He will join us on our mission to improve the way cancer is diagnosed. This can only be done together with pathologists to help us understand how to apply state of the art AI technologies to solve challenging problems, such as standardization in pathology”.

  • Visiopharm raises fresh capital with BankInvest as lead investor

    Visiopharm raises fresh capital with BankInvest as lead investor

    In a new investment round, Visiopharm added BankInvest to the group of institutional investors that already includes ATP, NorthCap, Vækstfonden, and C.L. Davids Fond. BankInvest now holds almost 6% of the equity of the company. All existing investors co-invested in this round.

    “We have seen Visiopharm triple its revenues organically over the last four financial years, which is very impressive,” stated Stefan Ingildsen, Senior Portfolio Manager at BankInvest, and adds “It is not very common for BankInvest’s mutual funds to invest in unlisted companies, but the perspectives for the AI-driven Precision Pathology market and for Visiopharm are so interesting that we decided to make an exception. The sustained growth rates show that there is a market, it is taking off now, and Visiopharm’s technology is addressing unmet needs effectively.”

    “We are extremely pleased, and also proud, to see BankInvest join the group of investors backing Visiopharm. We are on a journey to become world leaders in next-generation AI-driven Precision Pathology tools for cancer diagnostics”

    Michael Grunkin, PhD – CEO at Visiopharm

    The purchase of shares in Visiopharm is benefitting several of BankInvest’s mutual funds, in particular, the fund “BankInvest Small Cap Danish Equities.”

    “We are extremely pleased, and also proud, to see BankInvest join the group of investors backing Visiopharm. We are on a journey to become world leaders in next-generation AI-driven Precision Pathology tools for cancer diagnostics”, says CEO Michael Grunkin and adds “This investment is bringing our cash-position to about MUSD 15, which will allow us to further expand our sales channels, and continue our path back to cash-positivity while further accelerating both our diagnostic product roadmap, as well as our regulatory programs in geographies beyond Europe, including in the US”.

    With an install base of 75+ diagnostic pathology labs in Northern Europe, Visiopharm is already one of the largest diagnostic players in the European diagnostic digital pathology market. These installations are still in a relatively narrow geography, as Visiopharm only started accelerating its geographic expansion beyond Scandinavia as recent as in 2018, following a significant investment with ATP as the lead investor.

    “We are now also able to accelerate our diagnostic product roadmap, with new products and geographies to standardize tissue diagnostics, increase productivity in pathology labs, and help find the right treatment for the right patient at the right time. These are all reasons that I was excited to join Visiopharm as Chief Diagnostics Officer” said Dirk Vossen, who is a veteran of the Digital Pathology market, having 15 years of experience with Philips Digital and Computational Pathology.

  • Visiopharm granted patents for stain quality management in tissue biomarkers

    Visiopharm granted patents for stain quality management in tissue biomarkers

    Visiopharm®, the Denmark-based leader in artificial intelligence-driven image analysis, tissue mining, and precision pathology, has been granted patents in the US and Europe for an AI and image analysis based approach to quantifying staining quality in tissue sections stained with IHC or ISH based tissue biomarkers.

    The use of tissue biomarkers is key to diagnostic treatment decisions, the inclusion of patients in clinical trials, and making critical decisions about entire drug development programs. Yet, staining quality and standardization remains a challenge to the efficient use of tissue biomarkers. External Quality Assurance (EQA) organizations offering proficiency testing programs, such as NordiQC and UK NEQAS, have documented failure rates as high as 30% in diagnostic pathology labs for certain biomarkers.

    Through repeated testing and protocol review/recommendations, quality programs play an essential role in managing and improving staining quality, ultimately leading to benefits for patients. Yet EQAs have limitations in terms of the number of runs they can offer per biomarker per year, uniform standards, and the number of labs they can serve.

    Quality variations can come from many sources, along the value chain in sample preparation. The frequency in variation of staining quality in a typical pathology lab often exceeds the frequency in EQA proficiency testing, thus creating an unmet need for quality testing.

    AI and image analysis for decision support is just one component to improve precision and standardization of biomarker assessment. Managing stain quality and sufficiency are both critical to precision, and issues Visiopharm is addressing as part of our end-to-end quality commitment. We see the technology behind these patents as a first step of the way,

    Michael Grunkin PhD, CEO at Visiopharm

    “AI and image analysis for decision support is just one component to improve precision and standardization of biomarker assessment. Managing stain quality and sufficiency are both critical to precision, and issues Visiopharm is addressing as part of our end-to-end quality commitment. We see the technology behind these patents as a first step of the way”, said Visiopharm CEO Michael Grunkin, and continued, “later this year we will release a platform that will allow both EQAs and diagnostic pathology labs to leverage the power of AI in proficiency testing and stain quality management. Working closely with UK NEQAS and NordiQC for close to a decade has been instrumental in understanding the requirements for stain quality management tools.”