Drug discovery 3.0

In 2014, when his father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Alexandre Le Bouthillier did what any son would do: he sought out the best medical care. Two years later, the disease prevailed, leaving Le Bouthillier determined to make the best care better. The co-founder and chief operating officer of Montreal’s Imagia is hardly a novice entrepreneur, having sold his previous tech company in 2012. When his father was diagnosed, he joined long-time friend and fellow entrepreneur Nicolas Chapados to work with Yoshua Bengio, one of the fathers of deep learning, on applying artificial intelligence to cancer research.

In 2015, they launched Imagia and developed EVIDENS, an AI-enabled, collaborative platform that pairs artificial intelligence with clinical expertise to accelerate access to personalized healthcare. For example, the software can look for ways to improve treatment decisions based on a patient’s type of cancer and genetic makeup.

The company recently partnered with a global technology firm to develop a colonoscopy-related system that will help doctors better analyze potentially cancerous polyps in real time. The ultimate goal, Le Bouthillier says, is to deliver more personalized care that leads to better outcomes.

What would his father think?

“He told my first 15 employees, ‘You’re not going to be able to save me, but please continue the good work, and I’m sure you’ll make a difference,’ ” Le Bouthillier recalls. “He would be proud.”