aiPTO - Brain Cancer Treatment Innovation

About

Brain tumors, both primary and metastatic, are devastating diseases where effective treatments remain elusive. Over a thousand clinical trials have failed, largely due to the lack of translatable preclinical models. aiPTO, an official spin-off from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), tackles this grand challenge with a disruptive technology platform integrating next-generation patient avatars and generative agentic AI. Our mission is to transform brain cancer therapy and deliver effective, personalized treatments.

IPTO: Brain organoid (green) with tumor cells (red). Source: Liu/DKFZ

Next-Generation Patient Avatars

The Individualized Patient Tumor Organoid (IPTO) technology cultures intact patient tumor explants supported by brain organoids. These next-generation patient avatars are diagnostically indistinguishable from parental tumors, closely mirror tumor microenvironments at the molecular level, faithfully capture diverse cell types and proportions, and are able to predict clinical outcomes for brain cancer patients.

Generative Agentic AI

Leveraging unique single-cell data generated by patient avatars, a multi-agent generative AI system deciphers drug response at the single-cell level, reveals mechanisms of action, predicts resistance, and recommends personalized treatment plans with counter-resistance strategies.

Illustration of a brain merging with digital circuitry

Revolutionizing Drug Discovery and Precision Medicine

Integrating patient avatars and AI, aiPTO's platform enhances success rates across the entire drug discovery and precision medicine pipeline—from target discovery and lead validation to patient stratification, companion diagnostics, and personalized treatment planning. We empower strategic partners at every stage of their pipelines while advancing our own proprietary programs.

News

September 2026

Co-founder Haikun Liu Joins EANO Guidelines Committee

Our co-founder Haikun Liu has joined the Guidelines Committee of the European Association of Neuro-Oncology (EANO). As New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) transform brain cancer research and drug discovery, this leadership will help accelerate the translation of next-generation models into clinical benefit for patients.

Announcement on LinkedIn

September 2026

We're Hiring: Data Engineer / Scientist (m/f/d)

Join us in Heidelberg to build the multimodal clinical data foundation behind our virtual tumor AI models for brain cancer — integrating omics, pathology, imaging, clinical records, and drug-response data from living tumor models.

Job posting on LinkedIn

September 2026

aiPTO Featured in DKFZ Innovation Portfolio Highlight

DKFZ Innovation Management highlights aiPTO in its spin-out portfolio, showcasing how we bring AI and patient tumor models together to take on brain cancer.

DKFZ Innovation post on LinkedIn

September 2025

DELPHAI Preprint Released

DELPHAI, our AI agent for predicting drug response and resistance, is now available as a preprint. It demonstrates how our predictive IPTO technology can be leveraged to train powerful AI models — a synergy of patient organoid culture, single-cell genomics, and AI that is unlocking a new era of precision oncology and drug discovery.

Preprint on bioRxiv Announcement on LinkedIn

February 2025