Medial EarlySign, a company developing artificial intelligence based clinical predictive analytics, signed a new partnership with Roche to create innovative, evidence-based solutions for early detection of lung cancer. 

In 2020, over 235,000 people in the U.S. (1) and over 2.2 million people worldwide (2) were diagnosed with lung cancer. Lung cancer has the second largest incidence of all cancers and is the deadliest cancer for both men and women.

The goal of this new collaborative effort is to deliver validated clinical machine learning models to advance lung cancer identification which can lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment.  Early identification of high-risk individuals has the potential to improve lung cancer survival rates by finding the disease at an earlier stage when it is more likely to be curable.

By using models based on variety of signals including basic demographic, medical, drug, and routine clinical lab data, EarlySign’s LungFlag is designed to help providers focus additional effort on enriched sub-populations flagged by LungFlag and determine care pathways such that follow-up screenings can be more precisely prescribed in a cost-effective manner.

“As the only company combining pharma and diagnostics solutions, as well as cutting-edge tech and data capabilities under one roof, we are working towards a future in which treatments are targeted to an individual’s needs” says James Sabry, head of Roche Pharma Partnering. “To achieve this goal, we are eager to team up with innovative partners like EarlySign, who share our vision to enable better decision-making and ultimately improve patient outcomes.”

This new agreement builds on an already existing collaboration between Roche’s Diagnostics division and EarlySign, which originally focused on a personalized health solution for early detection of gastric cancer.  Structured to bring new clinical machine learning solutions to the global market, the collaboration further demonstrates the parties desire to transform healthcare delivery through digital solutions with smart algorithms that allow personalized preventive care to improve outcomes for patients while making care more affordable and sustainable.

“Our ongoing partnership with Roche’s Diagnostics and now also the Pharmaceuticals division helps accelerate the development and deployment of transformational technologies that create new opportunities to ease the burden of serious disease for people throughout the world,” says Ori Geva, CEO and co-founder of EarlySign. “Our partnership with Roche continues to put patients first by seeking better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases. Our proven machine learning infrastructure and modeling capabilities provide vital insights that create clinical efficiencies allowing for more precise and personalized care.”

Sources:

[1] NIH Cancer Stat Facts: https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/lungb.html

[2] Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries – https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21660