New Jersey-based Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization has signed a three-year collaboration with Holmusk, a data science and digital health firm based in Singapore and New York. The deal is worth up to $4 million annually.

WHAT THEY DO

OPDC is an indirect unit of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company, which is a subsidiary of Japan-based Otsuka Holdings. It develops and manufactures pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products that are marketed globally. It aspires to be a leader in treating mental, renal and cardiovascular health diseases and conducts research in oncology, tuberculosis and other diseases of global public health concern.

Holmusk builds digital solutions to advance behavioural health research, innovation and care. It uses advanced proprietary analytics, combined with Natural Language Processing and predictive disease models, to enrich data on behavioural health.

The company is known for its flagship real-world evidence platform for behavioural health called NeuroBlu that synthesises real-world data using analytic tools and enables users to derive insights. The platform is powered by a growing clinical data set with over two decades of data on more than half a million patients and 20 million encounters.

WHY IT MATTERS

Otsuka and Holmusk will employ data analytics and AI on multiple real-world data sources "to drive a deeper understanding of unmet patient needs and real-world outcomes".

"These insights can have application across Otsuka's portfolio and have the potential to improve patient lives," the companies said in a joint statement.

THE LARGER TREND

This latest partnership follows Holmusk's recent acquisition of UK-based Otsuka Health Solutions from Otsuka Pharmaceutical Europe. The said transaction deepens the Singaporean digital health firm's footprint in the UK and opens more doors for potential partnerships with health systems focused on behavioural healthcare.

Holmusk had absorbed OHS's Management and Supervision Tool (MaST) into its range of digital and analytic solution offerings. The MaST is a digital platform for care teams that uses predictive analytics to identify at-risk people who may need crisis services and those who may require recovery support services.

ON THE RECORD

"Holmusk is a global leader in real-world evidence and owns distinctive data assets for behavioural health. This collaboration strengthens Otsuka's capabilities in serving people living with complex, chronic diseases," said OPDC EVP and Chief Medical Officer Dr Christoph Koenen.

"We're thrilled to collaborate with Otsuka. Their commitment and passion to help patients suffering from poor behavioural health align with our mission. The expertise they provide to guide these efforts ensure we are targeting the right questions and allow us to get the most from our digital and analytics assets," Holmusk Founder and CEO Nawal Roy also said.