Dr. Michael Donovan Joins Cellworks to Oversee Personalized Cancer Therapy Biosimulation in New CLIA-Certified Lab

Cellworks Opens a Computational Laboratory to Advance Personalized Therapy Decision Support

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, May 28, 2024 – Cellworks Group Inc., a leader in Personalized Therapy Decision Support and Precision Drug Development, today announced it has opened a CLIA-certified computational laboratory in Franklin, Tennessee. CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) is administered under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and provides oversight for clinical lab testing in the United States. Prominent academic and biotech leader Dr. Michael Donovan, PhD MD, has joined Cellworks as Laboratory Director to spearhead computational biosimulation efforts for delivering Personalized Therapy Decision Support reports within the newly registered CLIA lab.

This new facility signifies a major step forward in Cellworks’ aim to establish a novel transformation in Personalized Therapy Decision Support with an initial focus on delivering personalized therapy predictions for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The Cellworks Platform coupled with its in silico Computational Biology Model (CBM) utilizes genomic aberrations from a patient’s cancer tumor to reveal how the tumor will respond to therapies. Comprehensive Genomic Profiling (CGP) and clinical data, provided by ordering clinicians, will be processed in the Cellworks lab using a combination of mechanistic biology modeling, statistical analysis and machine learning to predict patient-specific therapeutic outcomes.

"We look forward to leveraging our new lab to drive meaningful progress in the fight against NSCLC and are delighted to welcome Dr. Michael Donovan to the Cellworks family,” said Yatin Mundkur, CEO and Board Director of Cellworks. “Dr. Donovan’s contributions to medical science and innovation make him an invaluable addition to our team. His presence in our new lab underscores our commitment to excellence and further strengthens our position as a leader in Personalized Medicine.”

Dr. Donovan brings over two decades of deep experience to Cellworks, having held pivotal roles in both academia and the biotechnology industry. Dr. Donovan is currently an adjunct professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NYC, NY and at the University of Miami in Florida. Dr. Donovan has an impressive academic background spanning institutions including Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital. In addition, he has an extensive tenure in the biotechnology sector, including senior management roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Incyte Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Donovan earned a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Rutgers University with a Postdoctoral at the LHRRB, Harvard Medical School. He received his medical degree from the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School with residency at New York Hospital, NYC, NY and Fellowship and Boston Children’s Hospital.

"I am delighted to be part of the Cellworks team and look forward to collaborating with such a talented group of individuals,” said Dr. Michael Donovan, PhD MD. “We have an incredible opportunity to pioneer advancements in Personalized Therapy Biosimulation, starting with important breakthroughs for NSCLC patients. I look forward to contributing my expertise and working closely with the team to drive innovation and ultimately improve patient outcomes."
 

Cellworks Platform and Therapy Response Index (TRI)

The Cellworks Platform biosimulates the impact of specific drug compounds on an individual patient or class of patients using their genomic profile. Multi-omic data from an individual patient or cohort is used as input to the in silico Cellworks Computational Biology Model (CBM) to generate a personalized or cohort-specific disease model. The CBM is a highly curated mechanistic network of 6,000+ human genes, 30,000 molecular species and 600,000 molecular interactions. This model along with associated drug models are used to biosimulate the impact of specific compounds or combinations of drugs on the patient or cohort and produce therapy response predictions, which are statistically modeled to produce a qualitative Therapy Response Index (TRI) score, scaled from 0 (unfavorable outcome) to 100 (favorable outcome) for a specific therapy. The Cellworks CBM has been tested and applied against various clinical datasets with results provided in over 125 presentations and publications with global collaborators.

About Cellworks Group

Cellworks Group, Inc. is a leader in Personalized Therapy Decision Support and Precision Drug Development. The Cellworks Platform predicts therapy response for individual patients and patient cohorts using a breakthrough Computational Biology Model (CBM) and biosimulation technology. Backed by Artiman Ventures, Bering Capital, Sequoia Capital, UnitedHealth Group and Agilent Ventures, Cellworks has the world’s strongest trans-disciplinary team of molecular biologists, cellular pathway modelers and software engineers working toward a common goal – attacking serious diseases to improve the lives of patients. The company is based in South San Francisco, California with a CMS CLIA lab in Franklin, Tennessee and research and development facility in Bangalore, India. For more information, visit www.cellworks.life.

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