19th February 2025

Focus on the curation of deep, highly enriched real-world datasets in oncology

Arcturis, a UK leader in the curation and analysis of deep, multi-modal data to support the development of precision medicines, announces it has entered a partnership with DATA-CAN, the UK’s Health Data Research Hub for Cancer that seeks to make more accessible high-quality health data to improve cancer research and care. This partnership will combine Arcturis’ expertise in real-world data and evidence generation with DATA-CAN’s unique oncology-focussed health data curation network comprising NHS organisations, clinical opinion leaders and academic researchers from across the UK.

The partnership will increase the availability, quality, and use of health data through curation of cancer datasets that will combine a range of relevant data from electronic patient records, further enriched by including unstructured data such as scanned images and results of genetic tests.  The curation will benefit from DATA-CAN’s expert clinical oversight to ensure the clinical understanding and quality of the curated data. The generated datasets will be stored within the NHS Research Secure Data Environment (“SDE”) Network, a network of platforms designed to provide access to de-identified NHS data for medical research that operates with the highest privacy and data security standards.

DATA-CAN, hosted by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, is the health data research hub for cancer that works in partnership with Health Data Research UK (“HDR UK”). HDR UK is the UK’s national institute for health data science, whose mission is to accelerate the trustworthy use of health data to enable discoveries that improve people’s lives.

Professor Geoff Hall, Clinical Lead and Hub Director of DATA-CAN and Chief Clinical Information Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said, “DATA-CAN is thrilled to partner with Arcturis and we look forward to combining our skills and expertise to generate deep, highly enriched oncology datasets that will drive innovation in cancer research.”

Professor Mark Lawler, Professor of Digital Health at Queen’s University Belfast and Scientific Director of DATA-CAN added, “The formation of this partnership with Arcturis is a very timely development given we are increasingly deploying data to drive innovation and enhance outcomes. Uniting our complementary skills in data curation, analytics and real-world evidence generation provides us with significant opportunities to fast-track novel therapeutics and save lives.”

Alex Snow, Chief Executive Officer of Arcturis commented, “We are delighted to enter this oncology data partnership with DATA-CAN, which offers substantial potential to unlock the power of anonymised patient data to support the discovery, development, and adoption of innovative, precision cancer therapies. 

“This partnership further expands our Real-World Data Network in the UK and highlights Arcturis’ ability to operate with individual NHS trusts and regional Secure Data Environments to deliver deep, regulatory grade real-world evidence insights that support medical research to deliver better patient outcomes.”

David Seymour, Director of Data Partnerships at HDR UK commented, “We are delighted to see the capabilities of DATA-CAN and Arcturis come together through this partnership to build a world-leading oncology real-world data capability that will be hosted within the NHS’s Research Secure Data Environment Network. The partnership highlights the UK as a global innovation hub for medical research and innovation.” 

Libby Cooper, Chair of DATA-CAN’s Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Group said, “The partnership between Arcturis and DATA-CAN is really good news for patients. It means that through our analysis of data we can contribute to a faster diagnosis and better treatments for cancer patients and hopefully improve the UK’s rating for cancer care.”  

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