Akoya’s technology to generate data for a first-of-its-kind Biobank and Data Repository for Cancer Equity Research, funded through the Cancer Grand Challenges initiative

The unprecedented scale of the initiative requires the high plex and high throughput of Akoya’s PhenoCycler-Fusion platform to process thousands of patients' samples

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., April 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akoya Biosciences, Inc., (Nasdaq: AKYA), The Spatial Biology Company®, and SAMBAI, a team funded through the Cancer Grand Challenges initiative, today announced that Akoya’s PhenoCycler-Fusion system will be the foundational spatial proteomics technology used to generate data for a first-of-its-kind Biobank and Data Repository for Cancer Equity Research.

SAMBAI, which stands for “Societal, Ancestry, Molecular and Biological Analyses of Inequalities,” explains this team’s overarching objective to understand the mechanisms and contributions of genetics, biology, environmental, and social determinants to cancer risk and outcomes in diverse populations, and to provide foundational knowledge for developing novel approaches to reduce cancer inequities.

Team SAMBAI will focus on assessing disparate cancer outcomes in 40,000 individuals of African descent from Africa, the UK and the US and include proteomics, transcriptomics, and other data types. Teams from Johns Hopkins University, Nottingham University, Glasgow University, and King’s College London will run thousands of samples on the PhenoCycler-Fusion system using panels designed to study breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers – three cancers that have a disproportionately higher rate of aggressive tumor grade and early onset in the target population.

“We are excited that the PhenoCycler-Fusion is the spatial proteomics technology of choice for analyzing thousands of patient samples as part of this important initiative,” said Brian McKelligon, CEO of Akoya Biosciences. “A study of this size demands the high plex and high throughput of our solutions to generate data at the scale needed. We are honored to play a role in defining the factors that influence disparate outcomes in underserved populations.”

Cancer Grand Challenges identifies cancer’s toughest challenges and funds global research teams with the greatest potential to advance cancer research and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer. Team SAMBAI will receive up to $25 million from Cancer Grand Challenges to develop the project.

“As a leader in the spatial biology field, Akoya offers the best technology to assess the effect of environmental and societal factors on biology at the molecular level and on the development of cancer at the scale required for this project,” said Melissa Davis, PhD, Director of the Institute of Translational Genomic Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine and leader of team SAMBAI. “For the first time in a large population, we plan to bring all of these factors together to understand their interconnectedness and contribution to disparities in health outcomes.”

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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.

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