- Patriot One Technologies (PAT) subsidiary, Xtract Technologies, has revealed a new project contract with Canexia Health
- The project aims to increase access to cancer testing for patients impacted by delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic
- In Canada, at least 100,000 surgeries, including cancer tissue biopsies, have been delayed or postponed due to COVID-19
- The project plans to provide a liquid biopsy solution, which will serve as a minimally invasive alternative to surgical tissue biopsies
- Patriot One (PAT) is up 2.94 per cent and is currently trading at C$1.05 per share
Patriot One Technologies (PAT) subsidiary, Xtract Technologies, has revealed a new project contract with Canexia Health.
The contract is for Project ACTT (Access to Cancer Testing & Treatment in Response to COVID-19). The project is part of, and supported by, the Digital Technology Supercluster COVID-19 program.
Project ACTT’s aim is to increase access to cancer testing for patients impacted by delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the coronavirus outbreak began, other medical conditions have had to take a necessary backseat to the more pressing pandemic.
Hospitals all over the world have been overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, which have taken priority over other conditions. Enforced lockdowns have also reduced the number of people visiting hospitals for medical care.
In addition, some people have actively avoided going to hospital, in order to reduce their possible exposure to the virus. Many groups of people are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, due to old age, or pre-existing medical conditions, like diabetes or autoimmune diseases.
Cancer patients are twice as likely to contract COVID-19, and three times as likely to die from it, when compared to the general population. Unfortunately, by delaying treatments for the sick, COVID-19 has also given other diseases the chance to worsen or spread further.
In Canada, at least 100,000 surgeries have been delayed or postponed since early March, due to COVID-19. Some of these delayed surgeries would include cancer tissue biopsies.
Project ACTT intends to provide a liquid biopsy solution, which will serve as a non-invasive alternative to surgical tissue biopsies. The solution will involve a simple blood draw, which artificial intelligence technology will analyse for circulating tumour DNA.
Patriot One’s Xtract Technologies will develop, train, and deploy Natural Language Processing (NLP) models for the project. The NLP models will help to manage, understand, and integrate semi-structured information from a mutation and cancer-type database.
Patriot One’s CEO, Martin Cronin, commented on the company’s involvement in Project ACTT.
“Knowing how far-reaching the effects of COVID-19 are, we’re delighted to be involved in another project utilising artificial intelligence, and our team’s expertise, in an effort to significantly, and hopefully positively, impact the lives of cancer patients,” he said.
Patriot One (PAT) is up 2.94 per cent and is trading at C$1.05 per share at 11:58am EDT.