Rasph

My Personal Therapeutics and the EIC Accelerator: Fly Avatars

September 30, 2026964 words5 min

My Personal Therapeutics, which trades as Vivan Therapeutics, engineers the mutations of a patient's tumour into fruit flies and screens drugs on up to half a million of these "avatars" to find a treatment combination. The method was developed at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. The company was selected in the EIC Accelerator's October 2022 cut-off for AI-PDP, described in the award list as "applying AI to scale up the Personal Discovery Process", "a world-first, full-genome, personalised patient clinical trial for cancer". Its grant consultant, Alien Technology Transfer, says the fly approach "is slow & costly", and that AI-PDP would match a patient's tumour profile to drug combinations already found in earlier screens.

No project for the company appears on CORDIS, the EU's register of funded projects, so the grant amount and results are not public. No clinical trial of TuMatch, the AI tool, or of the fly process is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. The company's accounts to 31 August 2025 show cash of £1,373 and net liabilities of £216,728, against net assets of £452,237 a year earlier, according to Companies House.

£1,373Cash, August 2025
£217kNet liabilities, August 2025
£4.80MAccumulated losses
NoneRegistered trial or EU project record

Company file

Legal entity
My Personal Therapeutics Ltd, 11520777, London
Trading name
Vivan Therapeutics
Founder and CEO
Laura Towart, majority shareholder
Technology origin
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Products
Personal Discovery Process, TuMatch
Staff
14 average in year to August 2025
EIC funding
Grant only

Where the Company Stands Now

The company allotted new shares on 14 November 2025, and during 2025 filed statements of capital for five earlier allotments dating back to April 2023, one of which had to be replaced because it contained an error, the register shows. Its founder Laura Towart holds more than half of the shares and voting rights. It joined the Access Programme of Hub71, the Abu Dhabi start-up hub, which lists it at seed stage. Its website offers personalised treatment reports to patients, but its homepage still carries leftover template text, including "Healthy Smiles for a Healthy Life - Book an Appointment!" and "Lorem ipsum".

"This approach identifies fully personalised treatments but is slow & costly."

Alien Technology Transfer, describing the company's EIC project

The Technology: A Tumour in a Fly

For each patient, the company sequences the tumour, builds the key mutations into flies that then develop a similar tumour in their gut, and screens libraries of more than 1,900 drugs for combinations that keep the flies alive. Towart told Granatus Ventures in March 2023 that TuMatch was available for colorectal cancer and that "preparations are already underway for a multi-center European clinical validation study". No such study has been registered.

What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows

The award promised to scale the fly process by replacing much of it with AI, turning it into a mainstream cancer treatment tool. Without a CORDIS project, there is no public record of the budget, milestones or results. There is no published validation of TuMatch in patients, no regulatory clearance and no registered trial.

  1. AI matching toolPartialTuMatch offered.
  2. Clinical validationUnverifiedNo trial registered.
  3. EU project reportingMissingNo CORDIS entry.
  4. Financial healthWeak£1,373 cash in 2025.

The Money

The company received a £476,791 Innovate UK grant in July 2020 to treat gastrointestinal cancer patients with the NIHR London In Vitro Diagnostics Co-operative, according to its press release. By August 2025 its accumulated losses of £4.80 million exceeded its £4.59 million share premium. Its creditors due within a year rose to £526,179 while current assets fell to £183,567. The accounts omit the profit and loss statement, so revenue is not public. The share premium fell by £152,778 in the year, which the abridged accounts do not explain.

What Cannot Be Checked

Questions for the EIC

How much the company received, why no project record exists, whether TuMatch was validated in patients, and how a grantee ended the period with £1,373 in cash are not public.

Why Europe Should Care

Personalised treatment for hard-to-treat cancers is a real need, and the Mount Sinai method behind the company was published in Science Advances in 2019, the company's 2020 release notes. The EIC selected a company to industrialise it, but the public record shows a thin balance sheet, no clinical validation and no EU reporting.

What the award promised

An AI tool to make personalised cancer drug matching fast and mainstream.

What the record shows

No registered trial, no EU project record, and net liabilities with £1,373 in the bank.

The Verdict

Promise without proof

Three years after its EIC selection, the company has no public clinical evidence for its AI tool and is running on almost no cash.

My Personal Therapeutics and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.

Start with the EIC Accelerator

Professional proposal writing and expert review for Step 1 and Step 2.

Eureka Network

Eureka Network offers multiple international collaborative R&D programs including Network Projects, Clusters, Eurostars, Globalstars, and Innowwide, with funding ranging from €50K to €6.75M per project depending on the specific program. The network focuses on market-driven innovation and deep-tech development across diverse technology sectors including ICT/Digital, Industrial/Manufacturing, Bio/Medical Technologies, Energy/Environment, Quantum, AI, and Circular Economy. Applicants include SMEs, large enterprises, research organizations, universities, and startups, with Eurostars specifically targeting R&D-performing SMEs.

EIC Transition

EIC Transition provides up to €2.5 million in funding to bridge the 'valley of death' between laboratory research and market deployment, focusing on technology maturation and validation. The program supports single legal entities or small consortia of 2-5 partners including SMEs, start-ups, spin-offs, and research organizations. Technology areas include Health/Medical Technologies, Green/Environmental Innovation, Digital/Microelectronics, Quantum Technologies, and AI/Robotics.

EIC STEP Scale-Up

EIC STEP Scale-Up offers substantial equity investments of €10-30 million for established deep-tech companies ready for hyper-growth and large-scale expansion. The program targets SMEs or small mid-caps with up to 499 employees who have secured pre-commitment from qualified investors. Focus areas include Digital & Deep Tech (Semiconductors, AI, Quantum), Clean Technologies for Net-Zero goals, and Biotechnologies.

EIC Pre-Accelerator

EIC Pre-Accelerator is a pilot program providing €300,000-€500,000 in funding for early-stage deep-tech development and preparation for the EIC Accelerator program. The initiative is exclusively available to single SMEs or small mid-caps from 'Widening countries' to support regional innovation development. The program covers deep-tech innovations across physical, biological, and digital domains.

EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges

EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges is a new pilot program offering €300,000 (Stage 1) and up to €2.5 million (Stage 2) for breakthrough deep-tech solutions through ARPA-style staged funding with demand-side integration. The program targets single entities or small consortia (2-3 partners) including SMEs, start-ups, and research organizations. Focus areas include Physical AI for autonomous robotics and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for animal-free biomedical testing, requiring TRL 4 entry with end-user commitment.

EIC Pathfinder

EIC Pathfinder offers up to €3 million for Open calls and up to €4 million for Challenge-based calls to support early-stage research and development with proof-of-principle validation. The program requires research consortia with a minimum of 3 partners from 3 different countries, including universities, research organizations, and SMEs. Technology focus areas include Health/Medical, Quantum Technologies, AI, Environmental/Energy, and Advanced Materials.

EIC Accelerator

EIC Accelerator provides flexible funding options including blended finance (€2.5M grant + €0.5M-€10M equity), grant-only (up to €2.5M), or equity-only arrangements for scale-up and market deployment of breakthrough innovations. The program targets SMEs, start-ups, and small mid-caps with up to 499 employees, with MedTech/Healthcare representing 35% of funded projects. Other technology areas include Biopharma, Energy, AI, Quantum, Aerospace, Advanced Materials, and Semiconductors.

Innovation Partnership

Innovation Partnership facilitates collaborative innovation between public and private sectors with typical funding of €1-5 million per project. The program supports cross-sectoral strategic technologies through public-private partnerships and consortia. Projects focus on addressing societal challenges through collaborative innovation approaches.

Innovation Fund

The EU Innovation Fund provides substantial funding of €7.5 million to €300 million for large-scale demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies. The program targets clean energy, carbon capture, renewable energy, and energy storage technologies to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. Applicants include large companies, consortia, and public entities capable of implementing large-scale demonstration projects.

Innovate UK

Innovate UK offers various programs with funding ranging from £25K to £10M depending on the specific initiative, supporting business-led innovation, collaborative R&D, and knowledge transfer. The organization funds projects across all sectors with particular focus on emerging technologies and supports UK-based businesses, research organizations, and universities. Programs are designed to drive economic growth through innovation and technology commercialization.

Industrial Partnership

Industrial Partnership provides €2-10 million in funding for industrial research and innovation partnerships focusing on manufacturing, industrial technologies, and digital transformation. The program supports industrial consortia and research organizations in developing collaborative solutions for industrial challenges. Projects aim to strengthen European industrial competitiveness through strategic partnerships.

Eurostars

Eurostars is a joint EU-Eureka program offering €50K-€500K for international R&D collaboration specifically led by SMEs. The program takes a bottom-up approach, accepting projects from all technology fields without predefined thematic restrictions. R&D-performing SMEs must lead the consortium and demonstrate significant R&D activities.

LIFE Programme

The LIFE Programme provides €1-10 million in funding for environmental protection, climate action, and nature conservation projects across the European Union. The program supports environmental technologies, climate adaptation strategies, and biodiversity conservation initiatives. Applicants include public authorities, private companies, NGOs, and research institutions working on environmental and climate challenges.

Neotec

Neotec is a Spanish program offering €250K-€1M in funding for technology-based business creation and development, supporting the growth of innovative Spanish SMEs and start-ups. The program covers all technology sectors and aims to strengthen Spain's technology ecosystem. Funding is specifically targeted at Spanish technology-based SMEs and start-ups to enhance their competitiveness and market presence.

Thematic Priorities

EU Thematic Priorities encompass various programs aligned with EU strategic priorities including green transition, digital transformation, health, and security initiatives. Funding amounts vary based on the specific program and call requirements, with projects designed to address key European challenges. Applicant eligibility varies by specific program and call, with different requirements for different thematic areas.
EIC AcceleratorBeneficiary Deep Dive#My Personal Therapeutics#Vivan Therapeutics#cancer treatment#artificial intelligence#personalised medicine#United Kingdom
Loading