Weekly TechBio News 🔶
🔶 Voyant Bio AI-powered microscopy and spatial analytics company
Voyant Bio is a San Diego-based startup leveraging advanced AI-powered microscopy 🔬 and spatial analytics to design highly precise immunotherapies aimed at improving the efficacy of cancer treatments. The company’s proprietary platform, ✴️Voyant PM✴️, comprehensively maps complex immune cell interactions within tumor microenvironments, identifying critical therapeutic targets previously invisible through traditional methods (Voyant Bio Competitors in AI-Driven Spatial Biology & Immunotherapy).
Voyant Bio addresses a significant clinical need by developing treatments for patients who do not respond adequately to current immunotherapies. By translating novel discoveries from spatial biology into actionable clinical therapies, Voyant aims to fundamentally improve outcomes for cancer patients worldwide by uncovering previously hidden drivers of resistance to cancer immunotherapy (ICB, CAR T, Engagers, ISACs).
The company has been accepted into the latest cohort of the Merck Digital Sciences Studio (MDS Studio), a digital accelerator 🏃♀️🏃♂️ designed to enable the next generation of technologies for drug discovery and development, including AI and ML. The Merck Digital Sciences Studio (MDS Studio or MDSS), is a collaboration between Merck, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Northpond Ventures, McKesson Ventures, Microsoft for Startups, and the New Jersey Innovation Institute, a New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) subsidiary. Through the accelerator program, Voyant Bio will have access to workshops, coaching, office space, and Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub resources, including up to 💲 1️⃣ 5️⃣ 0️⃣ , 0️⃣ 0️⃣ 0️⃣ Azure Cloud ☁️ computing credits.
Basically when you send at Voyant your slides, from tumors resected during or after treatment and pathological response status, you get as an output:
🔶 Deep phenotyping of immune niches via highly-multiplexed imaging,
🔶 Models of cellular interaction patterns distinguishing responders & non-responders, and
🔶 Actionable interaction axes to block/stimulate, or use for patient selection.
📣 Right now they are looking for a founding Machine Learning/Computational Biology scientist to lead their technical efforts, focusing on multi-modal single-cell genomics, spatial data analysis, and method development.
This role requires hands-on experience in Python for microscopy data analysis and single-cell genomics, as well as expertise in large-scale data management in cloud environments. A strong foundation in AI-driven approaches to biological data interpretation and modeling is essential. Ideally, you have recruited, managed, and led a computational biology or machine learning team. Exposure to immunology or immuno-oncology is a plus.
The founder, Assaf Magen, PhD, has extensive first-hand experience in life sciences (immuno-oncology) and cutting-edge computational biology data science applications. You can find him also on Substack:
()