Vancouver Partnership Uses AI-Driven Virtual Biomarker Staining to Accelerate Cancer Research and Digital Pathology
New technology could cut tissue analysis time from weeks to days, advancing research workflows and improving future patient care pathways
Vancouver, BC – September 25, 2025 — A new partnership between Providence Health Care Ventures (PHCV) and Vancouver-based ViewsML will use artificial intelligence to accelerate research workflows and advance digital pathology capabilities for tissue sample analysis.
The collaboration combines Providence Health Care’s (PHC) extensive tissue sample library and digital pathology resources accessed through its secure Integrated Health Informatics Datalab (IHID) with ViewsML’s AI-driven virtual staining platform that can identify disease markers without the need for physical antibodies nor the traditional wet lab test of immunohistochemistry (IHC). Think of it like having a digital pathology assistant that can spot what researchers need to see in minutes rather than weeks.
Faster Research Workflows
Today, when researchers analyze tissue samples, it can take weeks to get results as samples move through multiple lab processes. ViewsML’s technology can analyze a single tissue slide and virtually recreate what would normally consume rare precious tissue, require expensive antibody tests and specialized staining procedures for research purposes.
“This collaboration is a game changer because it helps turn research into patient impact more quickly — speeding up new therapy development, improving research accuracy, and reducing delays in translational research workflows,” said Brian Simmers, President of Providence Health Care Ventures.
The partnership has immediate applications for:
- Cancer research: Faster identification of tumor characteristics for research studies
- Clinical trials: Quicker patient matching to experimental therapies through improved biomarker analysis
- Research workflows: Better utilization of precious tissue samples for multiple research studies simultaneously
Supporting Vancouver’s Innovation Hub
The collaboration will position St. Paul’s Hospital’s new Clinical Support and Research Centre (CSRC) as a global leader in health innovation, combining BC’s strengths in clinical data and AI technology.
“Pathology is rapidly moving into a digital era, and technologies like ViewsML have the potential to transform how we extract insights from tissue samples for research purposes. By enabling more precise biomarker discovery and supporting large-scale research, this type of innovation could help accelerate the development of new diagnostics and treatments, ultimately improving future patient care,” said Dr. Lik Hang Lee, Division Head, Anatomic Pathology, PHC.
How It Works
ViewsML’s AI platform acts like a virtual laboratory for research applications, using deep learning to identify disease markers that would typically require multiple expensive tests. From a single tissue slide, the technology can:
- Identify specific proteins and cellular features for research analysis
- Predict potential patient treatment responses for research studies
- Generate insights for multiple research studies simultaneously
Starting with Cancer Research, Expanding Beyond
The partnership launched with oncology research, using carefully curated digitized slides to validate the technology for cancer research applications. The work is already available to pharmaceutical companies and research organizations looking to accelerate drug development programs.
Providence Health Care Ventures and ViewsML plan to expand into kidney, heart, and rare disease research while developing new tools for pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies.
“Working with Providence enables us to deploy our platform into one of the premier research and clinical environments in Canada. By transforming a single H&E slide into a suite of biomarkers that have been virtually immunostained, we’re helping researchers accelerate discovery, conserve precious samples, and generate insights at a scale that was not previously possible – all while fitting into existing workflows.”Keith Jalbert, Chief Commercial Officer of ViewsML, added: “This collaboration also lays the groundwork for a new way researchers and biopharma can access tissue insights. Together with Providence, we are creating opportunities to make virtually characterized samples and biomarker data more accessible—helping accelerate decision-making and opening new possibilities in translational and clinical research.”
About Providence Health Care Ventures
Providence Health Care Ventures is the innovation and commercialization arm of Providence Health Care. Providence Health Care Ventures transforms clinical expertise, health data, and translational research into scalable partnerships that accelerate innovation and bring health solutions to patients and health systems globally.
Media contact:
Faye Alexander
Senior Communications & Engagement Specialist
falexander@providencehealth.bc.ca
About ViewsML
ViewsML is transforming precision medicine and diagnostics through virtual biomarkers. Its core platform virtualizes antibodies and immunostaining to predict biomarker expression at the per-cell level, both spatially and quantitatively, reducing a days-long process to mere minutes, all from a single H&E image to fit into current workflows. ViewsML enables biopharma, academic, and diagnostic partners to unlock new translational insights, scale biomarker research, and advance precision medicine faster and more effectively.
Media Contact:
Keith Jalbert
Chief Commercial Officer
kjalbert@viewsml.com