Deep Lens and Ocala Oncology/Florida Cancer Affiliates Collaborate to Expand Clinical Research Program with AI-Based Trial Matching Solution

COLUMBUS, Ohio & OCALA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ocala Oncology/Florida Cancer Affiliates and Deep Lens today announced that they have entered into a strategic agreement to expand the well-established clinical research program and offering to patients at the Ocala-based practice. The collaboration will leverage Deep Lens’ artificial intelligence-based clinical trial matching solution, VIPER™, and other support services to identify the right patients for oncology clinical trials for which they may be eligible, right at the time of their diagnosis. Ocala Oncology/Florida Cancer Affiliates specializes in hematology and oncology care and serves patients in the Central Florida area. The practice is also a member of the Innovative Community Oncology Practices (ICOP), a collaboration of local oncology practices that work to improve and expand the scope of services in the community oncology setting through information sharing, educational activities and research. This partnership is designed to bring more trials to the practice and ensure more patients have the opportunity to participate.

“Since we established our practice 40 years ago, clinical research has been a critical component of our complete offering to patients, and we are delighted to be working with Deep Lens to add to the extensive variety of trials that our patients already have access to,” said Rama Balaraman, MD, at Ocala Oncology/Florida Cancer Affiliates. “When a patient is diagnosed with cancer, and you are developing the right treatment plan, every moment counts. Deep Lens’ technology and onsite support will allow us to significantly accelerate the timeline and the accuracy of matching patients with the right trials, right as they are diagnosed.”

It is estimated that more than 15,000 oncology clinical trials are actively recruiting patients; however, fewer than 1 in 30 patients participate in a clinical trial. Limited trial site resources make it time-consuming to identify eligible patients, especially as trial protocols increase in complexity. VIPER supports care teams by automating the identification of potentially eligible patients at the time of diagnosis and easily matching them to relevant trials.

“The majority of cancer care is delivered in the community setting and Deep Lens’ approach is to partner with these practices to ensure more patients can receive cutting-edge care through precision medicine trials and stay close to home, in a comfortable and familiar environment,” said Simon Arkell, president and co-founder of Deep Lens. “We are enthusiastic about working with the team at Ocala Oncology/Florida Cancer Affiliates to provide every opportunity possible for cancer patients in Central Florida to access novel therapies in development, some of which may have the potential to change the course of their disease.”

Deep Lens’ VIPER will collaborate with the Ocala Oncology/Florida Cancer Affiliates EMR and will integrate molecular data feeds from Caris Life Sciences, Foundation Medicine and Guardant Health as well as all pathology feeds to automatically identify qualified patients for clinical trials. Deep Lens pre-screening and clinical trial matching solution is provided at no cost to oncology practices.

Deep Lens is working with a significant number of community oncology practices representing every region in the U.S. It is estimated that approximately 85 percent of cancer patients are diagnosed and treated at local, community-based oncology practices. Deep Lens is committed to expanding important oncology research by making trials more accessible to a larger and more diverse population within these local community settings.

About Ocala Oncology/Florida Cancer Affiliates

Ocala Oncology/Florida Cancer Affiliates cancer center is committed to providing patients with the best and most advanced oncology care available in the area, with the compassion that the patient deserves. For more than 40 years, Ocala Oncology/Florida Cancer Affiliates has offered the most current therapies proven to be effective, using the most advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies. Ocala Oncology/Florida Cancer Affiliates provides hematology and oncology care in several locations across Central Florida. For more information, visit: www.floridacancer.com.

About Deep Lens

Deep Lens is a digital healthcare company focused on a groundbreaking approach to faster recruitment of the best-suited cancer patients to clinical trials. VIPER, Deep Lens’ integrated cloud platform, provides care teams with visibility and workflows that combine lab, EMR, and genomic data to match cancer patients to clinical trials and precision therapies at the time of diagnosis, accelerating recruitment and compressing study timelines to bring game-changing therapies to market sooner. Growing with sponsors, providers, and strategic partners, Deep Lens challenges the status quo so that patients can get the best therapies. For more information, visit www.deeplens.ai.