Company Announcements

IQ-AI Ltd

("IQ-AI" or the "Company")

The benefits and significance of IB Neuro

IB Neuro, the flagship brand of IQ-AI's subsidiary Imaging Biometrics ("IB"), was the first commercially available dynamic susceptibility contrast ("DSC") perfusion approach and remains the only platform that automatically generates quantitative output; output that has been spatially validated with biopsy samples by multiple groups and enables objective longitudinal monitoring of treatment. In June of this year, Neuro Oncology published their consensus recommendations for the DSC MRI protocol available in IB Neuro™. This recommended protocol was the outcome of a large subcommittee of the Jumpstarting Brain Tumour Drug Development Coalition and provided evidence-based Best Practices for routine clinical use.

Being the acknowledged standard in dynamic susceptibility contrast imaging is a notable milestone. MR DSC is the most common perfusion technology used for the evaluation of brain tumours, but most sites have yet to adopt or have as yet fully comprehended  the value of having proven quantitative biomarkers available for brain tumour assessment.

The post-processing of DSC data has evolved since the inception of IB in 2007. Now fully automated, a full array of perfusion parameter maps is generated within seconds. In addition, exclusively licensed technology transforms the inherently variable MR data to a fixed and known scale. This approach, demonstrated to be superior to various tissue normalisation approaches, quantifies output values across scanner vendors, field strengths, patients, and timepoints and allows for longitudinal comparison. Moreover, IB remains focused on advancing the field of MR DSC imaging, as recently evidenced by receiving two major NIH grants. Together, with an outstanding team of clinical and scientific collaborators, IB is well-positioned to further its lead in brain tumour imaging and treatment monitoring and apply those learnings to other cancers and pathologies beyond the brain, setting new standards.

In the last 18 months, the team at IB has ported its core processing libraries, including the DSC technology in IB Neuro, to standalone software algorithms. Downloadable from IB, these software solutions can be networked between any site's MRI scanner(s) and PACS. Acquired datasets are processed and automatically routed to the PACS for viewing and interpretation. This automated processing is ideal for any-sized site as volume-based pricing allows for affordable and immediate access for any clinic. As previously announced, Keck Medical Centre of USC acquired IB's approach for the automated generation of quantitative parameter maps. Keck Medical Centre is one of 71 cancer centres having obtained special designation by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), placing them in the top 4% of the approximately 1,500 cancer centres in the US. These centres provide cutting-edge treatments to patients and are typically located in large metropolitan cities across the USA.

On average, brain tumour patients will receive between 3 and 5 follow-up scans per year to monitor treatment. Thus, each site performs several thousand neuro MRI exams annually, which represents a tremendous opportunity for IB Neuro. Moreover, IB's approach is not limited to NIH cancer centres in major metropolitan cities. A tiered pricing structure makes it possible for any sized institution to standardise its brain tumour imaging protocol.

The true value of IB Neuro's recommended DSC approach is in its ability to quantify DSC perfusion imaging data regardless of where, when, or on which scanner platform the data are acquired. This means that patients could obtain their follow-up scans at any one of the more than 6,000 hospitals or 7,000 imaging centres, have the data processed by IB Neuro, and sent to their treatment team. Prior datasets can be compared to the most current, and quantitatively assessed to evaluate changes in tumour size, location, etc. It is a convenience that brain tumour patients and their families deserve and, more importantly, it is a proven biomarker that objectively answers many questions faced by today's radiologists, oncologists, and surgeons as they provide care for these patients.

As more clinicians become aware of the value of a standardised DSC imaging protocol, IB anticipates that many other hospitals and imaging centres will seek to utilise IB Neuro. 

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

-ENDS-

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ABOUT Imaging Biometrics, LLC

Imaging Biometrics®, a subsidiary of IQ-AI Limited (LON:IQAI), develops and provides visualisation and analytical solutions that enable clinicians to better diagnose and treat disease with greater confidence. Through close collaboration with top researchers and clinicians, sophisticated advancements are translated into platform-independent and automated software plug-ins which can extend the base functionality of workstations, imaging systems, PACS, or medical viewers. By design, IB's advanced visualisation software seamlessly integrates into routine workflows. For more information about Imaging Biometrics, visit the company's website at www.imagingbiometrics.com.