French biopharma Sanofi has inked a partnership deal with Pangaea Data to use its AI platform that helps detect Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AATD) that will be distributed to select healthcare systems and low-income community care clinics.
AATD is a genetic disorder where a person is unable to produce sufficient, properly formed or inactive amounts of the protein alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), which is generated by the liver to protect the lungs from inflammation and damage. A lack of it leaves the lungs and liver vulnerable to disease.
As many as 90% of people with AATD are not yet diagnosed in the U.S. with patients often experiencing a diagnostic delay of five to eight years between the onset of symptoms and confirmation of the condition, the two companies said in a June 22 press release.
Financial details of the pact weren’t disclosed.
“AI has the potential to transform the patient journey by turning existing medical data into actionable insights that reduce diagnostic delays,” Ghassane Baaziz, Sanofi’s head of global rare patient activation and growth strategy, said in a Monday, June 22 statement. “For conditions like AATD, where patients often wait years for diagnosis despite relevant information already in their records, clinical decision support can identify at-risk patients in real-time.”
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The platform scours patient records—even unstructured data like clinical notes—to uncover actionable information that clinicians and providers can use to determine if a patient may need additional clinical evaluation.
The system integrates into existing systems while supporting patient identification and guideline concordance without creating additional operational burden thereby letting clinicians, providers, and patients to avoid care gaps.
Although the platform is currently focused on AATD under the collaboration, the two companies hope to scale the platform for patients with COPD, severe asthma, and other rare disorders that can result in years-long delays before any evaluation or management is initiated.
“This collaboration represents an important step toward a future where health systems can proactively identify patients earlier and more consistently using the data already available within routine care,” Vibhor Gupta, Pangaea’s founder and CEO, said in a statement.
