NEC acquires bioinformatics company in fight against cancer

NEC Corporation has acquired OncoImmunity, a Norway-based bioinformatics company that develops proprietary machine learning software to support the fight against cancer. Both NEC and OncoImmunity believe in improving individualised cancer treatments through artificial intelligence (AI).

OncoImmunity develops software that facilitate the effective selection of patients for cancer immunotherapy, and identify optimal neoantigen targets for personalised cancer vaccines and cell therapies in a clinically actionable timeframe. The company will now become a subsidiary of NEC and operate under the name of NEC OncoImmunity.

NEC announced its business strategy surrounding its AI-driven drug discovery business in May 2019. This acquisition is integral for enhancing the resources and capabilities that support the development of its individualised immunotherapy pipelines. NEC will maintain its focus on drug discovery, while NEC OncoImmunity AS continues its neoantigen prediction services.

"The OncoImmunity AS team are delighted to be joining the NEC Group and firmly believe that the union will realise great synergies, marrying the mutual strengths of OncoImmunity AS' and NEC's neoantigen prediction pipelines with NEC's expertise in AI, data management and security. These synergies will help strengthen NEC's individualised immunotherapy programmes, whilst simultaneously positioning NEC OncoImmunity AS as the leading neoantigen prediction service provider in the field," said Dr Richard Stratford, CEO and Co-founder of OncoImmunity AS.

"NEC strongly believes that healthcare based on genomics paves the way for individualised medicine. OncoImmunity AS is a recognised player in the neoantigen prediction field, and their compelling systems are expected to form valuable synergies with NEC. We are confident that this acceleration of development will provide promising new avenues that lead to better cancer treatments," said Osamu Fujikawa, Senior VP, NEC Corporation.