Leica Biosystems has agreed to make a significant strategic investment in Indica Labs, the two pathology firms have announced. This partnership aims to accelerate AI-enabled companion diagnostics and will also create a new digital pathology platform.
As part of the agreement, Leica Biosystems and Indica Labs plan to launch a diagnostic digital pathology platform, pairing Leica Biosystems’ Aperio scanner portfolio with a customised version of Indica Labs’ HALO AP image management software, for use by clinical customers. The platform will be available exclusively from Leica Biosystems.
The platform is expected to provide customers with a full suite of enterprise-grade digital pathology workflow functionalities, supporting onsite and remote primary diagnosis, and enabling customers to integrate AI applications of their own choosing through comprehensive open interfaces (APIs). The companies also expect to open an AI applications marketplace, offering both their own and third-party applications.
For customers with a need for Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) workflows, the companies expect to offer the HALO Link platform with collaborative browser-based image management features, enabling distributed teams to safely and securely manage, share, and analyse digital slides and data.
Additionally, Leica Biosystems expects to integrate Indica Labs into the company’s companion diagnostics (CDx) development programme, working with Indica Labs on next-generation AI-enabled CDx assays. Leica Biosystems’ CDx development program, currently based out of Centers for Enabling Precision Medicine in the United Kingdom and the United States, partners with pharma companies globally to help unlock patient access to novel cancer therapies.
“This is a truly groundbreaking partnership designed to accelerate the advent of next-generation AI-enabled solutions in cancer diagnostics,” said Gustavo Perez-Fernandez, President of Leica Biosystems. “Leica Biosystems is proud to partner with Indica Labs to develop and deliver a world-class computational pathology solution to customers and their patients. The opportunities for innovation are endless with our Aperio GT 450 DX and Indica Labs’ HALO software for image management.”
Indica Labs CEO Steven Hashagen commented: “we are delighted to team up with Leica Biosystems under this exciting arrangement. As two leading players in digital pathology, with complementary capabilities, this initiative will combine Leica Biosystems’ expertise and footprint in instrumentation with Indica’s expertise and footprint in enterprise software and AI. This collaboration between two companies dedicated to open pathology offers the potential to break down some of the barriers that prevent patients from receiving fast, reliable diagnoses and effective therapies.”