Modelling brain tumours with patient tissue and AI to study drug responses
Brain tumours vary between patients, making treatment responses difficult to predict. Laboratory models can lose important tumour properties and fail to reproduce interactions with surrounding cells. Promising drug results in these models may not translate into patient benefit.
aiPTO grows patient tumour tissue alongside brain organoids and combines these models with AI. Its platform supports brain cancer drug discovery by studying drug responses and resistance, with personalised treatment planning as a development goal.
What stands out about aiPTO
IPTO models from 35 glioblastoma patients were tested; drug responses correlated with outcomes in 22 temozolomide-treated patients.
A DELPHAI preprint reports leading differential-gene-expression prediction across two benchmark frameworks.
DKFZ identifies AIPTO as its official spin-off commercialising patient tumour organoids and AI for brain cancer research.
Scientific founder Haikun Liu heads Molecular Neurogenetics at DKFZ, where his lab studies treatments for glioblastoma.
Co-founder Xian Zhang previously co-founded Focal Biosciences and served as its chief scientific officer during 2022–2023.
Co-founder Xian Zhang worked at Novartis as a research investigator and later led biomedical imaging and deep learning.
aiPTO participated in the first six-week lablab NEXT accelerator cohort, which concluded with a Demo Day in 2024.
Co-founder Hui Wu previously founded Hexaell Biotech, iCCAMT and AVIC-Kotler Technology Investment before aiPTO.
Scientific founder Haikun Liu received the DKFZ Alumni award for international scientists in 2014.
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