BOSTON– Genialis, a leader in RNA-based biomarker development, has announced a collaboration with Cleveland Clinic to develop artificial intelligence-powered tools aimed at improving treatment selection for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common and deadliest form of pancreatic cancer. The partnership aims to give physicians better guidance when choosing therapies and ultimately enhance clinical outcomes for patients facing one of the most aggressive cancers.
The initiative will leverage the Genialis™ Supermodel, a proprietary foundation model trained on one of the world’s largest and most diverse RNA-sequencing datasets. Using this technology, Genialis is developing predictive biomarker algorithms that can identify optimal therapies for individual PDAC patients, streamline treatment decisions, and speed up access to emerging drug strategies.
PDAC accounts for over 90 percent of all pancreatic cancer deaths, claiming more than 50,000 lives annually in the United States alone. Despite advancements in other cancer treatments, the five-year relative survival rate for PDAC remains around 9 percent—one of the lowest among all cancer types.
Genialis and Cleveland Clinic will test the Supermodel’s biomarker predictions using patient-derived organoids, enabling rapid validation and refinement of the AI algorithms across a range of therapeutic approaches. The collaboration aims to match the right treatments with the right patients more effectively and quickly.
“For clinicians, time is critical. While standard therapies exist, we lack validated biomarkers to identify which patients are most likely to benefit from various treatment options,” said Wen Wee Ma, M.D., Director of the Novel Cancer Therapeutics Center and Enterprise Vice Chair of Research at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Institute. “Emerging therapies, including KRAS inhibitors, offer new hope but require precise patient selection to achieve meaningful outcomes. Our goal is to bring practical, data-driven tools into the clinic that help us choose the best treatment paths for patients who currently have very few effective options.” Dr. Ma will serve as an advisor on the project and may receive research funding and royalties.
The vast majority of PDAC cases involve a KRAS mutation, which has historically been difficult to target. Genialis has already made significant progress with its krasID biomarker algorithm, powered by the Genialis Supermodel. This tool can predict patient response to KRAS inhibitors across different tissue types and mutation subtypes. Genialis krasID is designed to support the entire drug development lifecycle—from early-stage research and clinical trial design to regulatory approval and clinical decision-making.
“Through our work on biomarker algorithms for KRAS inhibitors, Genialis has already made a major investment in understanding the drivers of PDAC,” said Rafael Rosengarten, Ph.D., CEO of Genialis. “Our collaboration with Cleveland Clinic aims to extend these insights to give doctors and patients better tools to combat the disease. This is an important step toward truly data-driven, personalized care in one of the most pressing areas of unmet need.”
