The Francis Crick Institute Ltd.

Consortium includes top universities, hospitals and industry partners, led by the Francis Crick Institute and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust Akoya’s platforms will be used for deep spatial proteomic profiling of thousands of tissue samples from cancer patients to identify biomarkers predicting treatment success MARLBOROUGH, Mass., Oct. 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akoya Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKYA) (“Akoya”), The Spatial Biology Company®, today announced that the company’s PhenoCycler® Fusion and PhenoImager® HT spatial proteomics platforms will be used to analyze tissue samples as part of the MANIFEST (Multiomic Analysis of Immunotherapy Features Evidencing Success and Toxicity) program. This multimillion-dollar initiative, funded by the UK Office of Life Sciences (OLS) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), aims to advance cancer immunotherapy research through deep multi-omic profiling. The MANIFEST consortium brings together leading cancer researchers, academic institutions, NHS trusts, and industry partners, to study why certain cancer patients respond to immunotherapy while others do not. Akoya’s spatial biology platforms will play a pivotal role in profiling immune cell interactions within the tumor microenvironment, offering critical insights into biomarkers that may predict treatment outcomes and potential side effects. "Akoya Biosciences is proud to be a part of the MANIFEST consortium, contributing our spatial proteomics leadership and expertise with the aim of improving patient care through this groundbreaking effort," said Brian McKelligon, CEO of Akoya Biosciences. "Our technology can help to identify key biomarkers, supporting the consortium’s efforts to advance personalized medicine and ensure that more cancer patients can benefit from the potential of immunotherapy.” Led by the Francis Crick Institute and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, the four-year MANIFEST program will evaluate thousands of cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy treatments across the UK. Initial testing will include 3000 patients who have completed their treatment and 3000 newly treated patients with breast, bladder, kidney, and skin cancer, with plans to expand to other cancer types. “In the past decade we have made significant strides with immunotherapy, yet many patients still experience treatment failure or adverse side effects,” said Samra Turajlic, project lead at the Francis Crick Institute and Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. “With MANIFEST, we have a unique opportunity to address these challenges through collaboration and innovation, bringing us closer to more precise and effective cancer treatments.” About Akoya Biosciences As The Spatial Biology Company®, Akoya Biosciences’ mission is to bring context to the world of biology and human health through the power of spatial phenotyping. The Company offers comprehensive single-cell imaging solutions that allow researchers to phenotype cells with spatial context and visualize how they organize and interact to influence disease progression and response to therapy. Akoya offers a full continuum of spatial phenotyping solutions to serve the diverse needs of researchers across discovery, translational and clinical research: PhenoCode™ Panels and PhenoCycler®, PhenoImager® Fusion and PhenoImager HT Instruments. To learn more about Akoya, visit www.akoyabio.com. Investor Contact: Priyam Shahinvestors@akoyabio.com Media Contact: Christine Quernmedia@akoyabio.com

PRESS RELEASE IMU Biosciences joins ground-breaking UK research consortium investigating patient response to cancer immunotherapies Consortium includes leading research institutions, NHS Trusts and industry members and aims to make pioneering immunotherapies safer and more effective London, UK, 7 October 2024 – IMU Biosciences (or “the Company”), a biotechnology company pioneering systems-level immune profiling with AI to drive breakthroughs in precision medicine, is pleased to announce its participation in MANIFEST (Multiomic ANalysis of Immunotherapy Features Evidencing Success and Toxicity), a new UK-wide platform to understand immunotherapy response and side effects in patients with cancer. The MANIFEST consortium, led by the Francis Crick Institute and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, has been awarded £9 million in funding from the UK government's Medical Research Council and Office for Life Sciences, with an additional £12.9 million in matched funds from industry partners. This four-year project aims to evaluate the many barriers to the success of immunotherapy and develop predictive biomarkers related to patient response, resistance, and immune-related adverse events following immuno-oncology treatments. IMU Biosciences will play a crucial role in this nationwide effort by analysing thousands of blood samples from patients undergoing immunotherapy. The Company's cutting-edge technology platform, which incorporates high-resolution spectral cytometry integrated with AI-powered analytics, can identify and analyse over 2,000 immune cell subsets, to develop novel systems-level immune signatures and insights. IMU’s technology will be instrumental in the study to help identify and understand how an individual’s immune system influences the responsiveness to immuno-therapy treatments. Using its AI and machine learning analytics, IMU is developing predictive models to improve treatment selection and patient outcomes. The research will initially focus on melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, bladder cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer, involving 6,000 patients across the UK. The consortium's findings aim to help understand which patients are most likely to benefit from immunotherapy and provide insights for potential new treatments, such as vaccines and cell therapies. Adam Laing, President and CSO of IMU Biosciences commented: “The IMU team is thrilled to contribute our cutting-edge, AI-driven immune profiling platform to this groundbreaking UK consortium, helping to deepen the understanding of the immune system’s role in cancer therapy and response, with the ultimate goal of improving clinical outcomes for patients. This collaboration with world-class institutions and industry partners underscores IMU Biosciences' commitment to driving innovation in precision medicine and showcases our potential to make a real impact in healthcare." The MANIFEST consortium brings together 15 academic institutions, including The Francis Crick Institute and the Cancer Research UK National Biomarker Centre, alongside six NHS Trusts, 11 industry collaborators including IMU Biosciences, as well as patient advocacy groups and other networks. -ENDS- Contacts: Adam Laing, CSO and Co-founder, IMU Biosciencesmedia@imubiosciences.com ICR Consilium Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5700Sukaina Virji/Lucy Featherstone/Jonathan EdwardsIMUBiosciences@consilium-comms.com About IMU Biosciences IMU Biosciences has developed proprietary platform technologies that generate and translate vast system-level immune data into actionable insights and tools to drive the development of precision medicines across a variety of diseases. Built on over a decade of research at King’s College London and the Francis Crick Institute, IMU leverages advanced immune profiling with proprietary AI and machine learning analytics to uncover novel clinical immune signatures. IMU continues to establish partnerships with leading Pharma and Biotech companies to advance disease diagnosis, optimise product selection, and improve patient stratification and monitoring—while also building its own pipeline of innovative products. To learn more please visit https://www.imubiosciences.com/. Follow us on LinkedIn.

Researchers from the Francis Crick Institute and the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology have found a way to selectively target cells affected by motor neurone disease (MND). Published in the journal Science , the study details how the team developed DNA molecules that contain ‘invisibility cloak’ sequences, which can only be removed by diseased cells. It is hoped that preventing healthy cells from reading the molecules’ messages could lead to safer and more effective gene therapies for MND, as well as other neurodegenerative diseases, including frontotemporal dementia. “While neurodegenerative diseases have devastating effects, we can estimate that less than 0.00001% of cells in a patient’s body are actually diseased,” explained study lead Oscar Wilkins. “The challenge is finding a way to specifically target treatments to this minuscule fraction of diseased cells, while avoiding unnecessary treatment of the 99.99999% of cells which are healthy,” he said. Affecting up to 5,000 adults in the UK at any one time, MND is a rare condition that progressively damages parts of the nervous system and leads to muscle weakness, often with visible wasting. The team’s new approach centres around the activity of the TDP-43 protein, which resides near the DNA in healthy cells and helps them to correctly interpret the DNA’s genetic instructions. However, this protein gets stuck in distant parts of diseased cells, corrupting their interpretation of genetic messages. Using artificial intelligence prediction tools and careful design, the researchers created DNA sequences that behave in the opposite way – the messages from the DNA are corrupted in healthy cells, but can be interpreted correctly in diseased ones. Pietro Fratta, head of the molecular neurodegeneration laboratory at the Crick and UCL, who co-invented the approach, said: “We hope this new technology will enable much bolder therapeutic approaches for MND. “Many potential therapies also alter important cellular processes and this may cause toxicity. Therefore, limiting their action to diseased cells, while leaving healthy cells untouched, will increase the safety of gene therapies and allow researchers to pursue many more treatment options.” US collaborators from the National Institutes of Health’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development also contributed to the therapeutic approach. Work to further develop gene therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the most common form of MND, using the system is being supported by the Crick Translation Fund and by the UCL Neurogenetics Therapy Programme.