Bioptimus partners with Cancer Research Horizons to advance AI-powered precision medicine
- Bioptimus to use Cancer Research Horizons’ data to train and evaluate its AI foundation model
- Third partnership since Bioptimus launched ground-breaking STELA initiative in March
- Deal adds Bioptimus' first UK patient cohort to STELA, deepening its multimodal biology model
Paris, FR, August 20 2026: Bioptimus announced today a partnership with Cancer Research Horizons, the innovation engine of Cancer Research UK, to advance AI-powered precision medicine. The agreement provides access to S:CORT (Stratification in COloRectal cancer Trial), one of the most comprehensive multimodal colorectal cancer datasets, including over 1,750 patient profiles.
The collaboration adds a new dataset to STELA (Spatial Tissue Embedding Learning Atlas), Bioptimus' global initiative to build the world's largest clinically linked, multimodal atlas of human biology. S:CORT becomes the first UK cohort in STELA, broadening the atlas in geography and in scale.
“Building AI models that genuinely move the needle for cancer patients requires data of exceptional depth and quality,” said Jean-Philippe Vert, CEO, Bioptimus. “The S:CORT dataset, with its rich combination of imaging, genomic, transcriptomic, and clinical data, is exactly the kind of resource that allows us to rigorously evaluate and continue the development of M-Optimus to deliver real-world clinical advancements. This is an important advancement in our efforts to build the world’s most advanced AI foundation model for biology.”
“Cancer Research Horizons is committed to increasing access to world-class cancer research datasets that have the potential to improve outcomes for patients,” said Joe Day, Senior Business Development Executive for Data & AI at Cancer Research Horizons. “AI-driven approaches, such as those employed by Bioptimus, have the potential to accelerate research into clinical benefits for cancer patients.”
Assembled from multiple UK patient cohorts, the S:CORT dataset integrates as many as six distinct data modalities per patient. This multimodal resource pairs deep, multi-layered molecular and cellular profiling with comprehensive longitudinal clinical outcomes, capturing both the biological complexity and the long-term therapeutic response of the cohort.
The S:CORT dataset will serve as a key evaluation benchmark, enabling Bioptimus to rigorously assess the performance of its AI models across a range of clinically relevant tasks during iterative model development.
The Cancer Research Horizons agreement is Bioptimus' third partnership since STELA launched five months ago. STELA aims to profile 100,000 specimens across a global network of research institutions and clinical partners. The resulting multimodal data infrastructure is intended to be 20 times larger than any existing spatial biology atlas.
“We're grateful to Cancer Research Horizons for their commitment to making this data accessible responsibly, and we look forward to demonstrating how the STELA initiative can help break down the data silos that have long slowed the path from scientific discovery to clinical impact,” Vert added.
About Bioptimus
Bioptimus is a global AI tech company that is pioneering the first world model for biology. By combining cutting-edge AI with massive multimodal, proprietary data generation, Bioptimus is building a unifying framework that connects all scales of biology — from molecules to patients — delivering interpretable, dynamic, and actionable insights. To power this vision, we develop best-in-class multimodal models that outperform standard benchmarks and are utilised by leading industry partners. These models integrate diverse biological data layers, from histology to genomics to clinical metrics, into a unified representation of disease. These models form the backbone of a new, data-driven paradigm for biomedical discovery and development. For more information visit https://www.bioptimus.com/.
About Cancer Research Horizons
Cancer Research Horizons is the innovation engine of Cancer Research UK – the world’s largest charitable funder of cancer research. It brings together world-leading minds, bold ideas and the right partners to bridge the gap between academic research and taking drugs to market. It focuses on the tougher, more profound ideas that can lead to true innovation, translating them into effective treatments and diagnostics for cancer patients. To date, it has played an instrumental role in forming over 95 start-ups. It has helped bring 14 cancer drugs to market, born out of Cancer Research UK’s pioneering research. Through these drugs, it has enabled in excess of 28 million courses of treatment for cancer patients across the world. For more information visit www.cancerresearchhorizons.com.