Precision oncology: Avitia launches in Montréal
Avitia improves access to its cancer testing through its AI-platform, partners with Mila
Montréal’s expertise in artificial intelligence applied to life sciences is growing: Avitia launches its company with a $5 million USD investment from PacBridge Capital Partners. The company seeks to tackle cancer by expanding access to precision, on-site testing.
“Avitia believes that all patients deserve access to advanced, cost-effective testing, regardless of geographic or economic constraints,” said Avitia CEO and Partner of PacBridge James Lumsdaine. “Avitia will build on technology originally developed by Imagia Canexia Health, including an AI platform developed in Quebec in collaboration with Mila, the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, to continue to deliver access to advanced cancer care to patients globally.”
The platform has already performed over 40,000 cancer mutation detection tests in Canada, the United States, and Southeast Asia. The company will use the new funding to enhance the platform’s functions and deploy it in new markets.
“Greater Montréal is world-renowned for its artificial intelligence and life sciences ecosystems. Avitia’s project supports the retention of highly qualified talent and deploys locally developed technology,” said Stéphane Paquet, President and CEO of Montréal International. “With such a concrete application of artificial intelligence, Avitia illustrates how Montréal stands out in the life sciences field.
Avitia joins a burgeoning ecosystem in Montréal: over the past five years, teams from Montréal International have supported foreign direct investment worth a total of $150 million in the burgeoning healthcare AI sector. These include a new Insilico Medicine laboratory to support drug discovery, as well as Novartis’ Biome innovation center.
The Avitia team also announced a partnership with Mila, the Institut québécois d’intelligence artificielle, which brings together over 1,400 experts dedicated to deep learning research.
To learn more about Avitia’s project, read the company’s press release.
To find out more about life sciences companies in the Greater Montréal area focusing on artificial intelligence, visit our web page!