Kaiku Health and Novartis Collaborate on Specialized Digital Patient Monitoring Technology

Lauri Sippola

Kaiku Health has announced that they are partnering with the global healthcare company Novartis to develop a digital patient monitoring and management system specifically for patients with melanoma who are receiving BRAF/MEK combination therapies.

“Kaiku Health is a digital application that guides cancer patients through treatment and recovery. The application interviews the patient along the care journey. Then, based on patient reporting and feedback, it provides personalized feedback, information, and education for the patient. At the same time, the data is securely transmitted to the patient’s care team and Kaiku provides them with their own dashboard, “explained Lauri Sippola, the chief executive officer of Kaiku in an interview with OncLive^®. “In this collaboration we have announced with Novartis, we are creating a specific patient module to support [patients with] melanoma who will receive BRAF/MEK combination therapies. We are cocreating personalized support and targeted algorithms for supporting patients and the care team to achieve optimal therapy of each patient.”

Founded in Finland in 2012, Kaiku Health’s platform is utilized in clinical routine use in over 40 cancer clinics and hospitals in Europe.

The new module from Kaiku and Novartis will utilize machine learning to optimally personalize care and symptom management information for each patient. It is designed to track symptoms and relay them, along with additional information, to the patient’s care team. The collaboration also aims to generate novel insights into patient outcomes in a real-world setting and to continue to advance the machine learning–based algorithms to improve the quality of life (QoL) of patients.

“We believe that digital monitoring will improve patient experience, toxicity management, and symptom management,” Sippola said. “Ultimately, we hope this will lead to improved outcomes for patients. By utilizing predictive, machine learning–based models, we believe the care will be more personalized and more predictive. By using prediction, we can support patients before some symptoms or potential adverse effects might happen. Our ultimate mission is to improve the QoL of [patients with] cancer.”

The module is planned to be piloted at cancer centers in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy beginning in May 2021; it will be available as a mobile application or a web browser–based application accessible via desktop computer.

“With the current situation of the world and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is accelerating the need for digital applications that support remote patient monitoring,” Sippola concluded. “We are seeing a growing number of cancer centers adopting digital patient monitoring. Patients are really expecting digital solutions that will support their care. It’s a very exciting time to work and develop solutions with global partners like Novartis and Elekta.”

Reference

1. Kaiku Health to develop digital patient monitoring for melanoma with leading global medicines company. News Release. Kaiku Health. April 20, 2021. Accessed May 20, 2021. https://kaikuhealth.com/press/kaiku-health-to-develop-digital-patient-monitoring-for-melanoma-with-leading-global-medicines-company/