KYAN Technologies has announced significant validation of its Optim.AI platform (also known as QPOP) for functional precision medicine across multiple cancer types, demonstrating its potential to transform personalized cancer treatment strategies. The platform, which directly measures tumor responses to therapeutic interventions in real-time, has shown remarkable accuracy in predicting treatment outcomes and identifying effective drug combinations.
Breakthrough in Soft Tissue Sarcoma Treatment
A groundbreaking study published in npj Precision Oncology, led by researchers from the National Cancer Centre Singapore and National University of Singapore, demonstrated how KYAN's platform identifies optimal drug combinations tailored to individual patients with soft tissue sarcomas (STS).
Soft tissue sarcomas present unique challenges for treatment due to their rarity, heterogeneity, and limited effective treatment options. Traditional precision oncology approaches that rely on genomic sequencing often fall short for STS patients, as these cancers frequently lack clear genetic targets.
The study revealed several key findings:
- Personalized drug combinations were successfully identified, substantially increasing treatment efficacy compared to standard protocols
- Actionable treatment options were provided for 88.2% of 51 primary patient samples
- Clinical concordance analysis demonstrated a Total Predictive Value (TPV) of 77.8%, validating the accuracy of Optim.AI in guiding treatment decisions
- The platform identified unexpected but effective combination therapies beyond standard-of-care regimens
- Analysis of frequently recurring drug combinations across patient samples revealed BRD4 as a potentially effective therapeutic target across multiple STS subtypes
"We are thrilled and thankful to our collaborators that once again, the feasibility of Optim.AI has been demonstrated—this time in a solid cancer setting," said Hugo Saavedra, Chief Executive Officer of KYAN. "Optim.AI provides a highly valuable FPM approach by overcoming the limitations of trial-and-error combination therapies and bypassing the constraints of traditional precision medicine that rely solely on genomic biomarkers."
Pan-Cancer Clinical Validation
Building on these findings, KYAN recently presented new data at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2025 in Chicago, further validating the platform's clinical utility across a broader range of cancers.
A comprehensive study evaluated 75 retrospective and prospective clinical cases across more than 20 cancer types, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, acute myeloid leukemia, sarcoma, breast, colorectal, and ovarian cancers. The platform demonstrated an impressive 85.4% concordance with actual clinical responses, accurately identifying both effective and resistant regimens.
Sample sources included bone marrow, peripheral blood, tissue biopsies, and pleural effusions, highlighting the platform's versatility across different sample types. These results reinforce Optim.AI's ability to distinguish treatments associated with clinical benefit from those unlikely to be effective.
"These results validate the ability of Optim.AI to support therapeutic decision-making by accurately predicting both response and resistance," said Dr. Edward Kai-Hua Chow, Chief Scientific Officer at KYAN Technologies. "By functionally interrogating hundreds of treatment permutations using patient-derived samples, we can deliver clinically meaningful insights within days, helping clinicians make more informed and timely therapy choices."
Advancing Immunotherapy Combinations in Breast Cancer
A second study presented at AACR 2025 showcased an experimental adaptation of the Optim.AI platform specifically designed to evaluate immunotherapy combinations in breast cancer.
The approach integrated high-content imaging, short-term 3D tumor-immune co-culture, and combinatorial analysis to rank the effectiveness of immunotherapy combinations in HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancer spheroids co-cultured with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). This enabled real-time assessment of immune cell infiltration and tumor-specific killing, allowing for the phenotypic ranking of all possible combinations from 12 FDA-approved therapies, including ADCC/CDC antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
"This study bridges a key gap in immunotherapy testing," said Sharon Pei Yi Chan, Scientist at KYAN Technologies. "By integrating multi-cellular, high-content screening with the Optim.AI platform, we're able to evaluate immunotherapy-based combinations in clinically relevant tumor models, using limited material and within a rapid timeframe. This creates a new path for functional, patient-specific immuno-oncology strategies."
Expanding Clinical Access and Applications
KYAN Technologies is actively working with cancer centers and clinical researchers to expand the application of Optim.AI, with ongoing initiatives in other hard-to-treat cancers, including multiple myeloma and HR+ and Her2+ breast cancer.
The company recently entered into an agreement with Mayo Clinic Laboratories to expand patient testing into the U.S., marking a significant step in bringing combinatorial functional precision medicine to a wider patient base. Optim.AI is currently available as a laboratory-developed test (LDT) in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
"We're bridging the cancer care gap by advancing revolutionary technologies that are clinically validated and built for real-world use," said Hugo Saavedra. "Optim.AI is uniquely positioned to transform drug development and how treatment decisions are made by combining speed, precision, and wide applicability in a way traditional approaches simply can't."
A Personal Mission Driving Innovation
KYAN Technologies was founded with a deeply personal mission. Each of the company's founders has experienced the loss of loved ones to cancer, fueling their commitment to developing better treatment options for patients.
This personal connection drives the company's approach to functional precision medicine, which aims to provide actionable insights for clinicians when standard treatments fail or when genomic testing doesn't reveal clear therapeutic targets.
By combining small-data AI-driven analytics with innovative biological experimentation, Optim.AI represents a significant advancement in the field of precision oncology, offering hope for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers and potentially revolutionizing how cancer treatments are developed and selected in the future.
