Tech nonprofit Reboot Rx accelerates search for COVID-19 and cancer treatments 

(Boston, MA - August 6, 2020) The AI-powered nonprofit startup Reboot Rx launches the Reboot: COVID-Cancer Project, a free, publicly accessible resource for researchers and physicians to quickly find and review data on COVID-19 and cancer. Cancer patients are among those with the highest risk of dying from COVID-19. From over 170,000 published studies and registered clinical trials, Reboot Rx has identified the 850 that are most relevant for cancer patients with COVID-19. 

“The ability to comb through the literature comprehensively and rapidly to identify the relatively few important studies and trials is incredibly impressive,” reflected David Frank, MD, PhD, an oncologist and researcher at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. “The Reboot: COVID-Cancer Project has the potential to be enormously impactful for scientists and physicians.”

Reboot Rx is enabling the largest analyses on COVID-19 and cancer to date. The Reboot: COVID-Cancer Project provides crucial insights into treatment responses and mortality rates to understand how cancer patients are uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19. Through this effort, Reboot Rx is helping researchers and physicians pursue the most effective treatments.

Reboot Rx leveraged its domain expertise and AI technology in collaboration with Northeastern University and IBM Research’s Science for Social Good Initiative for the Reboot: COVID-Cancer Project, which aggregates two sets of clinical data. The first dataset draws from recent studies on COVID-19 in cancer patients. The second dataset draws on years of cancer research on drugs that are now being tested for COVID-19. Reboot Rx will expand the resource as more evidence becomes available.

“We urge the scientific and clinical community to share additional data to accelerate research and inform treatment decisions,” said Laura Kleiman, PhD, Founder and CEO of Reboot Rx. “Patients and their doctors need to know what impact the drugs they might take for COVID-19 will have in order to choose the best treatments to fight both life-threatening diseases.”

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About Reboot Rx

Reboot Rx is a nonprofit tech startup enabling cancer patients to access new and affordable treatments faster than traditional approaches by using repurposed generic drugs, AI and machine learning, and innovative funding models. Many repurposed generic drugs being tested for COVID-19 also have documented effects on cancer, which inspired the Reboot: COVID-Cancer Project. For more information, visit rebootrx.org.

Contact Information

Reboot Rx, Inc. 

Devon Crittenden

Media Relations Coordinator

media@rebootrx.org