Physiomics plc (AIM: PYC), a mathematical modelling and data science company, announced on Monday that it has secured a contract from The University of Sheffield to support a grant-funded project focusing on an insect (Fruit fly) model of cancer treatment.

Valued at GBP45,000, the project will commence in the second half of this calendar year. This initiative is part of the seven cancer-focused projects recently announced by the University, all funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Building on a pilot project funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) scheme, Physiomics will collaborate with principal investigator Dr Kyra Campbell. The project aims to develop an insect model of cancer for drug screening before pre-clinical testing in traditional cancer models, with a focus on predicting metastasis. This innovative approach may offer insights into novel cancer therapies and potentially reduce the use of pre-clinical animals in drug development. Physiomics will create mathematical models based on experimental data, exploring the relationship between drug effects in these models, established models and humans. The company will also provide guidance on the technology's potential commercialisation.

Physiomics utilises advanced PKPD and QSP modelling, data science techniques and deep biology expertise to assist biotech and pharma companies in streamlining drug development. Its approach leverages all relevant data to de-risk decision-making and optimize research design across discovery, pre-clinical and clinical studies. With over 100 commercial projects, 50 targets, and 75 drugs informed by its proprietary Virtual Tumour technology, Physiomics has collaborated with major clients, including Merck KGaA, Astellas, Bicycle Therapeutics, Numab Therapeutics and CRUK.