Berlin-based medical AI company Ada Health has announced the launch of a new partnership with Novartis in order to speed up the diagnosis for patients with immunological diseases and rare conditions.

The partnership will see Novartis use Ada Health’s AI-based, clinically validated, symptom assessment and care navigation solutions to help improve the identification and diagnosis of a number of diseases.

WHY IT MATTERS

One of the conditions that Ada and Novartis are focused on is axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), along with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and familial Mediterranean fever (FMF).

Axial Spondyloarthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that can lead to chronic pain, structural damage and disability. Affecting around one in 200 adults, axSpA is notoriously difficult to identify. Timely diagnosis is a critical factor for a patient’s future quality of life but symptoms can present in many ways and be indicative of other conditions. Worldwide, the delay to diagnosis averages about five years - with women taking two years longer than men to be diagnosed.

To address this challenge, the Ada Health team has developed and optimised computerised disease models that aid differentiation of the signs and symptoms of conditions that may appear similar in nature. At the end of an assessment, users are offered a number of options to help them take the next steps. Options include learning more about axSpA, booking an appointment with a doctor or finding a specialist located near to them.

“Our global partnership builds on an existing collaboration between Ada Health and Novartis and starts with the integration of Ada - deployed in multiple local languages - into Novartis’ disease awareness sites around the world."

- Vanessa Lemarié, senior vice president of life sciences and rare diseases at Ada Health

THE LARGER CONTEXT

Last year, a first of its kind peer-reviewed study testing the coverage, accuracy and safety of eight online symptom assessment apps was conducted by a team of doctors and scientists and led by Ada Health.

Ada Health is also expanding its services in East Africa with a new Swahili language version of its AI assessment app.

ON THE RECORD

Vanessa Lemarié, senior vice president of life sciences and rare diseases at Ada Health, told MobiHealthNews: "We're incredibly excited about this partnership because it helps us fulfil our ambitious mission to improve human health by transforming knowledge into better outcomes."

"We're particularly eager to help raise awareness and knowledge on notoriously difficult to identify speciality conditions and rare diseases and this partnership with Novartis really enabled us to do that, and provide users with medically meaningful but also in the context of the healthcare system, meaningful guidance, that is relevant and actionable within the local healthcare system, as to next best steps to get the appropriate diagnosis and care. 

“Our global partnership builds on an existing collaboration between Ada Health and Novartis and starts with the integration of Ada - deployed in multiple local languages - into Novartis’ disease awareness sites around the world. It is hoped that having undertaken the assessment, users will be in a better position to have an informed discussion with their healthcare professional and get to the right answers and the right diagnosis faster than before.”