AstraZeneca looking for Israeli digital health cos

Karan Arora  / Photo: PR
Karan Arora / Photo: PR

AstraZeneca digital division manager: The market is demanding a change.

International pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca recently launched BeyondBio, a cooperation agreement in Israel for finding digital health companies, helping them develop, and investing in them. The investment program was begun as part of cooperation with venture capital fund Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), the Digital Israel National Initiative, the Qesem Center, and Kahn-Sagol-Maccabi Research and Innovation Institute. As part of the project, AstraZeneca and JVP will give support and assistance to startups, and will allow direct access to digital health databases and leading research and academic bodies in Israel.

AstraZeneca chief commercial digital officer Karan Arora told "Globes" about the need to expand this activity, and about products that are already being developed. "I once attended a meeting of asthma patients," Arora says, "and one patient told me that because of our drug, he was sleeping well, after being unable to sleep for a long time. I told him, 'That must be amazing,' and he answered, 'Yes, but when can I stop taking the drug?' I thought, 'Didn't you just say that you felt better because of it? Why stop?' That was a seminal moment for me."

Arora realized at that moment that however good the drugs of the company in which he works may be, people do not really want to go on taking them for their entire lives. "The governments and the taxpayers want more proof of results - that they really improve the patients' lives. The drug companies have realized that a prescription by itself doesn't make an improvement without more general good treatment for the patient. We don't really treat the quality of the patients' lives now. Actually, the initiative to switch to digital did not depend solely on the drug companies. The market itself is asking us to change, and the digital products will be part of our business model," he explains.

Forecasting heart attacks and predicting asthma with sensors.

Arora gives an example of two of AstraZeneca's products in the prediction field - identifying patients at risk of an asthma attack or a heart attack in the short term. "We work with health insurance companies and companies developing sensors for inhalers. By monitoring the usage patterns for the drug during periods of remission from attacks, we can see a sudden increase in frequency or intensity of inhaling, and tell the patient that his or her situation is non-normal and requires a visit to the doctor.

"The product for heart diseases, which is in a pilot, is different. We are examining a range of variables in tests before release from the hospital in order to assess the patient's risk and what level of monitoring is necessary. The phenomenon of patients returning with another heart attack within a short time is known, and today, hospitals are fined if this happens," Arora says.

"Globes": What is the value of such a product for AstraZeneca?

Arora: "Gathering the information enables us to prove the drug's effectiveness, and today, this is becoming the required basis for obtaining insurance reimbursement. Furthermore, the information helps verify that the patient is conforming to the treatment regime, and we also rely on this information in developing new products."

This is the vision. How close are we really to it in the various areas?

"In the future, I believe, every prescription will come with a digital element. In the distant future, monitoring will be conducted with implanted sensors in order to really follow the drug's activity in the bloodstream for the purpose of prevention."

What are the most interesting products you have seen in the digital health sector besides your products?

"I like products that are the simplest for the user and make life easy. A product like WeChat, through which all of life is managed in one place: paying bills and laboratory tests, because half of the consumer's problem in the medical sector results from confusion."

Sanara Ventures incubator CEO: Increase the variety for investors

Arora was one of the speakers at a conference organized by the digital health section of the Israel Export Institute, headed by Assaf Barnea, CEO of the Sanara Ventures technology incubator. At this event, Arora contacted the Qesem Center and Sheba Medical Center's digital innovation network. "They have homogenous information, and doctors have a good intuitive attitude towards innovation in information," he says.

According to Barnea, Israel has at least 20 digital health investors. "This is a lot for a country of our size, but it's important for us to increase the selection. We want to create four verticals of activity: the US, Europe, Israel, and Asia," he says.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 31, 2019

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2019

Karan Arora  / Photo: PR
Karan Arora / Photo: PR
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