Technology
Rumi Viro has developed a transformative process for screening and testing therapeutics for infectious diseases – faster and more effectively than ever before.
Rumi Viro’s technology is a powerful high-throughput platform to generate miniaturized synthetic organs that mimic organs that are highly susceptible to viral infection, at high-speed. We have an unparalleled ability to track viral infection in thousands of synthetic mini organs at a time. With our machine learning algorithm, we are able to identify therapeutics that inhibit the infection, replication and transmission of viruses, which allows us to predict the therapeutic benefit that a drug could have on patients exposed to the virus.
Breakthrough 1
The Human Model
We can mimic the development of human organs and the complex biology behind this process.
Rumi Viro’s technology is based on a collaboration by Dr. Ali Brivanlou and Dr. Charles Rice, the heads of the Virology and Stem Cell Biology Laboratories at Rockefeller University, who worked together to combine the disciplines of stem cell biology and virology. This fusion of stem cell biology and virology has resulted in a transformative approach of using human embryonic stem cells that self-organize to generate miniature organs. These organs recapitulate human organs both in morphology and gene expression profiles.
Breakthrough 2
The Infection Model
We can mimic the entire lifecycle of viral infection in human tissues.
Rumi Viro has already identified phenotypic signatures associated with multiple viruses including coronaviruses as well as influenza and parainfluenza viruses. We have also identified compounds and antibodies capable of neutralizing infection by these viruses and inhibiting virus-induced pathology.
Breakthrough 3
A High-throughput Drug Screening Platform
We can apply Breakthrough 1 and 2 in thousands of mini organs.
Rumi Viro’s technology has created a unique and transformative screening platform for viral infectious diseases to identify potential treatments through the application of high throughput methods to create and screen thousands of nearly identical mini organs. No other existing platform can achieve the qualitative and quantitative level of resolution obtained with our technology.
Breakthrough 4
Phenotypic Analysis using Artificial Intelligence
We can achieve unbiased analysis using deep neural networks to estimate the toxicity and efficacy of each compound tested.
The Rumi Viro technology applies artificial intelligence to deconvolute the phenotypes associated with the ongoing interaction between viruses and their target human tissues during their viral life cycle when treated with potential therapeutics, allowing us to perform antiviral drug discovery at unprecedented precision, sensitivity and scale. Thus Rumi Viro technology can be applied to solve challenges in the drug discovery process for infectious diseases.
Numerous Advantages over Existing Processes
Rumi Viro’s platform outperforms existing drug discovery technologies for infectious diseases.
Human Models
A key bottleneck in the discovery of antiviral drugs is the lack of accurate and representative human models for viral infectious diseases. Current models display key differences in drug sensitivity and viral entry pathways compared to patients’ organs. Our platform allows us to generate tissues from human embryonic stem cells that are genetically and morphologically similar to patients’ organs. As a result, our technology creates a precise model for viral infectious diseases which allows us to track viral infection and associated pathologies in thousands of mini organs at a time, in a way that recapitulates the disease progression observed in human patients.
A Quantitative Landscape of Viral Infection
As we can track infection in thousands of mini organs at a time, we are able to measure key viral features including the identification of target cells, viral transmission and cytopathology at high resolution and in a highly quantitative manner. Thus, our technology allows us to perform phenotypic screens of drugs that modulate infection-associated pathology by modulating key steps during a viral life cycle. These phenotypic screens allow a broader discovery that can lead to many potential disease targets. Importantly, for poorly understood infectious diseases, our pipeline does not require prior knowledge of disease mechanisms.
Unbiased AI-driven Analysis
Additionally, our A.I.-powered pipeline enables unbiased analysis, without relying on pre-determined phenotypes and thus, better reflecting the biological complexity of human tissues.
Universally Applicable
As a result of the advantages mentioned, our platform is disease-independent. We are able to track susceptibility to infection and pathology associated with many viruses of concern. Lastly, the phenotypic characteristics of each disease are unbiasedly determined by our machine learning algorithm, thus allowing for application to other viral infectious diseases.
Specificity/Toxicity
Our unique quantification methods can additionally categorize compounds with respect to their toxicity/off-target effects and their therapeutic effect. This creates an information-rich pipeline that is necessary for the success of drug development.
Clinical Targets
The use of our platform for antiviral drug discovery is not only beneficial for a more efficient discovery of drug candidates but also to develop a more efficient clinical strategy. Our work allows us to define mechanisms of action of drug candidates and how they modulate specific steps of the viral life cycle in a fast and scalable manner.
Comparative Analysis: Pre-clinical Platforms
Rumi Viro’s platform outperforms existing drug discovery technologies
Exponential Growth Opportunity for Drug Developers
In addition to its groundbreaking work with COVID-19, the Rumi Viro platform will provide numerous benefits and opportunities versus the current landscape used by large pharmaceutical companies.
Our platform offers numerous transformative benefits to any company interested in developing drugs to treat infectious diseases, including the following:
The most promising path to achieve predictable success:
Our platform offers numerous transformative benefits to any company interested in developing drugs to treat genetic diseases, including the following:
The most promising path to achieve predictable success:
Key Developmental Milestones
2021 |
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