Collaboration with TRACK-FA NeuroimagingConsortium

RNS Number : 9326Z

IXICO plc

24 September 2020

 

IXICO plc

("IXICO" or the "Company")

Collaboration with TRACK-FA Neuroimaging Consortium

IXICO joins the TRACK-FA Neuroimaging Consortium to develop novel imaging markers in Friedreich's Ataxia

IXICO plc (AIM: IXI), the data analytics company delivering insights in neuroscience, announces that it has entered into a 5 year collaboration with the Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA), a non-profit organization dedicated to the pursuit of scientific research leading to treatments and a cure for Friedreich's Ataxia (FA). IXICO will become a member of the TRACK-FA Neuroimaging Consortium, working with clinicians and researchers to explore novel imaging markers in Friedreich's Ataxia.

FA is a rare inherited, debilitating, life-limiting, degenerative neuro-muscular disorder, and although rare, it is the most common form of hereditary ataxia in the United States, affecting about 1 in every 50,000 people. FA causes progressive nervous system damage and movement problems and usually begins in childhood and leads to impaired muscle coordination (ataxia) that worsens over time, with the rate of progression varying from person to person. Generally, within 10 to 20 years after the appearance of the first symptoms the person is confined to a wheelchair.

The TRACK-FA Neuroimaging Consortium is a representative group of stakeholders with interest in the design, conduct, support and participation in neuroimaging studies in FA, facilitating the exchange of data and other information with the goal of furthering the understanding of FA, identifying sensitive neuroimaging biomarkers and advancing the development of treatments for FA. IXICO will support the implementation of novel analysis algorithms, with the aim of providing a trial ready imaging solution for FA clinical trials.

IXICO will be an industry member and stakeholder in the consortium, working alongside academic partners with expertise in neuroimaging and conducting clinical research in FA. These partners include Monash University (Australia), University of Minnesota (USA), Aachen University (Germany), University of Campinas (Brazil), University of Florida (USA), and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (USA).

This contract does not have significant impact on management's expectations of performance for the year but will contribute to the Company's already strong year end order book.

Dr Robin Wolz, Senior Vice President for Science and Innovation at IXICO, commented, "This new consortium will help to accelerate the quest for new treatments for Friedreich's Ataxia by bringing together some of the leading researchers in the field from both academia and industry with the specific goal of developing new tools to better understand and characterise this debilitating disease. IXICO will bring its expertise in neuroimaging and AI to support the development and validation of new biomarkers which in turn will help to identify the most promising treatments and bring these to patients sooner."

For further information please contact:

IXICO plc			[phone]
Giulio Cerroni, Chief Executive Officer Grant Nash, Chief Financial Officer
Cenkos Securities PLC (Nominated adviser and sole broker)				[phone]
Giles Balleny / Max Gould (Corporate Finance)
Michael F Johnson / Russell Kerr (Sales)
Walbrook PR Ltd	+ 44 (0)20 7933 8780
Paul McManus / Lianne Cawthorne /		[e-mail]
Alice Woodings

About IXICO

IXICO is dedicated to delivering insights in neuroscience. Our purpose is to advance medicine and human health by turning data into clinically meaningful information, providing valuable new insights in neuroscience and our goal is to be a leading proponent of artificial intelligence in medical image analysis. We will achieve this by developing and deploying breakthrough data analytics, at scale, through our remote access technology platform, to improve the return on investment in drug development and reduce risk and uncertainty in clinical trials for our pharmaceutical clients.

More information is available on www.IXICO.com

 

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