Histopathology for Ulcerative Colitis Trials | IAG and Takeda Partnership
IAG and Takeda collaborate to enhance how histopathology is used in ulcerative colitis trials, combining expert pathology, advanced image analysis, and streamlined workflows to support more consistent, data‑driven clinical decisions.
Key Themes:
- Partnership focused on ulcerative colitis histopathological image analysis to better assess disease activity and treatment response in clinical trials.
- Methodology designed to help gastroenterologists incorporate histology into real‑world and trial decision‑making, despite limited access to specialist IBD pathologists.
- Integration of IAG’s DYNAMIKA platform and image‑driven analytics to standardise workflows and support robust, reproducible endpoints.
- A scalable framework that can be extended across inflammatory bowel disease pipelines and broader immunology portfolios.
Reach out to our team to discuss your clinical trial imaging analysis needs: contact@ia-grp.com
Histopathology for Ulcerative Colitis Clinical Trials
Image Analysis Group and Takeda have entered a strategic partnership in ulcerative colitis histopathology image analysis. The collaboration aims to develop and validate a methodology that enables gastroenterologists and trial teams to use histology more effectively when assessing disease activity and treatment response.
By combining Takeda’s gastroenterology expertise with IAG’s experience in imaging and quantitative analytics, the partners are working to make histology a practical, scalable tool in both clinical research and routine practice.
From biopsy slides to structured, quantitative information
In this collaboration, IAG and Takeda apply an image‑driven approach to support clinical decision‑making in ulcerative colitis. The work focuses on automating and standardising the assessment of histopathological images, reducing variability and making it easier to incorporate histological remission and activity into trial endpoints.
IAG’s DYNAMIKA platform underpins a seamless workflow: digitised biopsy slides are processed, analysed, and translated into structured metrics that can be aligned with recognised histology indices and integrated into trial databases.
Expert collaboration and workflow design
The partnership draws on the support of leading clinical opinion leaders and experienced pathologists in inflammatory bowel disease. Under the scientific leadership of Professor Laurent Peyrin‑Biroulet and other global experts, the team is defining workflows that reflect real‑world pathology practice while meeting the needs of clinical trials.
IAG contributes deep expertise in imaging trial operations, data handling, and quantitative analysis, designing workflows that are robust enough for multicentre studies yet practical for busy clinical environments.
What this means for sponsors and investigators
Histopathology is emerging as an important treatment target and endpoint in ulcerative colitis trials, but traditional scoring can be time‑consuming and prone to inter‑ and intra‑observer variability. Through this collaboration, IAG and Takeda seek to:
- Make histological assessment more consistent and scalable across sites and studies.
- Support more precise evaluation of disease activity and remission, complementing endoscopic and clinical measures.
- Help sponsors design trials that better reflect evolving concepts such as mucosal and histological healing in IBD.
For sponsors, this provides a pathway to more robust, imaging‑driven histology endpoints that can de‑risk development and support regulatory and payer discussions.
IAG’s broader role in IBD and Immunology imaging
This work in ulcerative colitis builds on IAG’s wider experience in imaging and quantitative analysis for immune‑mediated diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease and other autoimmune indications. By combining central imaging expertise, advanced analytics, and global operational capability, IAG helps biotech and pharma teams design trials that use imaging and histology to detect treatment effects earlier and more reliably.
IAG continues to focus on solutions that make complex data more accessible to clinicians and trial sponsors, with the ultimate goal of getting the right treatment to the right patients at the right time.
Collaboration statements
Prof. Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet, Department of Hepato-Gastroenterology and Inserm U954, University Hospital of Nancy, the scientific lead on this project, said “The success of patient treatment with novel therapeutic agents highly depends on the efficient use of modern technologies and data-centric development approaches. In such a critical area as IBD, our patients will no doubt will benefit from the use of Artificial Intelligence to augment clinical decisions.“
“With results from recent clinical trials and emerging concepts of response to treatment such as disease clearence, there is a growing need to look at the disease through a different lens and ideally in a combined and holistic way. In real life, there are barriers in terms of access to trained IBD Pathologists. With its focus on automated quantitative imaging-driven analytics, this collaboration is a step towards putting assessment tools in the hands of practicing gastroenterologists, which will ultimately benefit patients“, added Dr. Andrea Stancati M.D., Vice President, Global Medical Franchise Head, Gastroenterology at Takeda.
“We believe in demystifying AI and making it truly useful in the clinical decision making and clinical research”, said Dr. Olga Kubassova, CEO at IAG. “IAG is uniquely positioned to provide tools which could be a game-changer, particularly for the development and use of advanced therapies in complex areas such as IBD, ultimately supporting the goal of getting the right treatment to the right patients at the right time.”
Exploring ways to reduce histology variability in your ulcerative colitis trials?
Discover how centralized histopathology workflows and advanced image analysis can improve endpoint consistency and support clearer decisions in IBD studies.
Book a personalized DYNAMIKA™ demo today to see how our histopathology and imaging analytics can strengthen your trial design and help your teams act with greater confidence.
About Image Analysis Group (IAG)
Image Analysis Group (IAG) is a global imaging clinical research organization (iCRO) focused on de-risking and accelerating drug development through advanced imaging science and AI. IAG designs and runs imaging-centric clinical trials across oncology, immunology, neurology, rare diseases, musculoskeletal conditions, fertility and women’s health, partnering closely with biotech and pharma sponsors from early proof-of-concept through pivotal and real-world evidence studies.
Through its proprietary, cloud-native DYNAMIKA™ platform, IAG integrates centralized imaging workflows, blinded independent review, expert readers and AI-powered imaging biomarkers to deliver high-quality, regulator-ready imaging endpoints and decision-enabling insights that optimize trial design, reduce operational risk and unlock the full value of imaging data.
Media contact:
Marie Fussell
IAG Communications Lead
Press@www.ia-grp.com
Find further details in our press release: Image Analysis Group (IAG) Advances Development of AI-Powered Histopathology Image Analysis
