Press release: Oxford Cancer Biomarkers – 13th February 2019
 | OCB has been working with Meridian IT UK on combining leading edge diagnostics with AI technology to improve outcomes for cancer patients. We are delighted to announce that Meridian IT UK is named Beacon Award Finalist for Outstanding Solution Driving Client Innovation and Transformation with IBM Power Systems. |
 | Meridian IT UK, a leading IT Solution provider today announced that it was selected at IBM PartnerWorld Conference in San Francisco on 11th February 2019, as a finalist for a Beacon Award for Outstanding Solution Driving Client Innovation and Transformation with IBM Power Systems. |
Short link to the case study: https://ibm.co/2DkMjFH
The IBM Beacon Awards program recognises IBM Business Partners that have achieved outstanding results in deploying IBM Power Systems solutions which helped clients transform their IT infrastructure to resolve business challenges and gain a competitive edge.
Predicting which patients with Stage II colorectal cancer suffer a recurrence after surgery is hard. However, many are routinely started on chemotherapy, even though it provokes severe side effects in some patients that can even be fatal.
Working with Meridian IT to deploy IBM® PowerAI Vision running on IBM Power Systems™ servers, Oxford Cancer Biomarkers accelerated analysis of digital images of tumours to determine the risk of recurrence of colorectal cancer. The benefits included:
- More than 10x faster image analysis enabling Oxford Cancer Biomarkers to test many more patients at the same time
- Enabling new standards of care, enhancing patient outcomes and boosting efficiency
- Reduced time-to-market and accelerated scaling, enabling Oxford Cancer Biomarkers to take its offering internationally
This award recognises Meridian IT’s position as a Centre of Competence for AI in EMEA and the commitment to providing innovative ways of bringing new solutions to market, working in partnership with IBM and our customers.
Steve Young, Meridian IT’s Managing Director, acknowledges this great achievement.
“This shows our approach of building an inclusive ecosystem of start-ups, academia, hospital trusts and now enterprise customers, is creating a new business model. Our ESA agreement with IBM has enabled us to launch an innovative new offering based on Power AI: Meridian’s AI Vision Service, MAIVis.”
David Browning, CEO of Oxford Cancer Biomarkers, explains the background to the partnership:
“At OCB, we want to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to cancer care by giving clinicians as much information about a patient’s condition as possible. We aim to develop screening tests that discover these insights more quickly and cost-effectively and less invasively than existing methods.” He added that: “As soon as we saw IBM PowerAI in action, we knew that it was going to have a seismic effect on our ability to process tissue samples. Previously it took us months to years to build and test new models, now we can do it in hours.”
More information about the project can be found at: https://www.ibm.com/case-studies/oxford-cancer-biomarkers-systems-hardware-ai-diagnostics
About Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Ltd. (OCB)
Oxford Cancer Biomarkers is a personalised medicine company with a goal to enable early detection of cancer risk and to dramatically improve the precision of cancer treatment. OCB achieves this by applying platforms that incorporate biomarker-based technology from its R&D teams and partners, to integrate information, bringing enhanced certainty to decision-making in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. The first product to be launched is ToxNav, a 19 SNP germline assay that predicts individuals’ propensity to develop life-threatening adverse reactions from 5FU/capecitabine chemotherapy. ColoProg; a digital pathology test for the recurrence of Stage II tumours is already available in China. The company is working with academic partners to develop a population-based genome test for the lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer. Oxford Cancer Biomarkers is closely affiliated with The University of Oxford, where its founders lead research groups focused on translational cancer science.
About Meridian IT UK
Meridian IT UK is a leading information technology company in Henley-in-Arden. Clients leverage a single point of contact, comprehensive portfolio, technical expertise, and a broad range of deployment and management options to maximise the value of their IT investments. The combination of business expertise with design excellence around the data centre, unified workspace, security and risk management, and cloud services empower businesses to transform. Please visit www.meridianit.co.uk
About Meridian Group International
Meridian IT UK is part of Meridian Group International, a leading independent organization providing equipment leasing, technology, and global support services. Committed to strong customer relationships, Meridian has extensive knowledge and opportunities for helping businesses innovate and grow while managing costs. Operating since 1979, with over 700 employees and locations across Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia, discover more at www.onlinemeridian.com
Contact:
Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Ltd
Tel: +44 1865 784743
[email protected]