Introducing ImmuneWatch DETECT: A New Bioinformatics Tool for Finding the Epitope Specificity of your T-cell Receptors

We are thrilled to announce the official launch of ImmuneWatch DETECT, a state-of-the-art bioinformatics tool designed to help researchers uncover the epitope specificity of T-cell receptors (TCRs). Following a successful Early Access period and invaluable feedback, ImmuneWatch DETECT is now available to the scientific community.

Empowering TCR Researchers Across Fields with Machine Learning

"There are numerous reasons why researchers, whether in academia or industry, are eager to determine the epitope specificity of their TCRs," explains Sander Wuyts, CEO of ImmuneWatch. "These reasons range from tracking vaccine or therapy-specific TCRs to monitoring therapy efficacy, using TCRs as biomarkers for diagnostic products, designing TCR-based therapeutics, or discovering new antigens related to autoimmune diseases for novel drug development."

User-Friendly and Highly Effective

ImmuneWatch DETECT is designed with user-friendliness at its core. "We aimed to provide researchers with a powerful tool that's easy to use. The platform allows for seamless annotation of complete TCR repertoires, enabling researchers to quickly identify the most relevant TCRs for their studies," Wuyts adds. Feedback from Early Access users has been overwhelmingly positive, with 87% rating the tool at least 4 out of 5 for ease of use.

Leading the Field as Demonstrated in a Benchmark Competition

The decision to release ImmuneWatch DETECT was reinforced by its outstanding performance in the IMMREP23 competition, a machine learning contest focused on TCR specificity prediction. ImmuneWatch DETECT emerged as the top performer. "Initially, access to ImmuneWatch DETECT was limited to internal use or through our services. Recognizing the value it could bring to the field, we decided to make it widely available under a freemium model—offering a free licence for academic use and several premium versions." Wuyts concludes.

Accessible to All

Starting today, ImmuneWatch DETECT is open for everyone to try. "Detailed information on how to use the tool can be found on our Documentation pages," says CTO Pieter Meysman. "We've also provided a walkthrough using a public SARS-CoV-2 dataset, which demonstrates how TCR-epitope annotations can be applied to understand immune responses before and after vaccination."

Explore ImmuneWatch DETECT today:

• Get access to ImmuneWatch DETECT
• Documentation pages
• COVID-19 Vaccine walkthrough