Sensyne Health plc (LSE: SENS), the British clinical AI technology company, and Bayer, the life sciences company, announce that Bayer has become Sensyne Health's preferred pharmaceutical partner to work together on the development of a national linked patient data capability. Bayer joins Microsoft, EY, JP Morgan, and Peel Hunt in this consortium.
Under the terms of this new Memorandum of Understanding Bayer will work with Sensyne Health and the consortium members as they develop proposals to scale Sensyne Health's current network of strategic research agreements with NHS Trusts. The purpose of this network is to accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines and improve patient care through the analysis of large databases of anonymised patient data, using clinical artificial intelligence. Bayer will provide Sensyne Health with strategic insight and advice regarding the research, development and commercialisation of new medicines, medical devices and biomarkers to aid the design of these proposals.
Sensyne Health and its consortia of experts have the requisite capabilities in clinical AI, computing, data analytics, systems integration, business planning, investment banking and, with the addition of Bayer, the relevant pharmaceutical R&D expertise and capability. Sensyne Health looks forward to continuing to help shape national health data policy that meets the government's guiding principles to realise the full potential of NHS data whilst maintaining public trust.
In keeping with Sensyne Health’s ethical framework and business model, the NHS remains the controller of NHS patient data, and no data is sold or transferred to a third party. Sensyne Health acts as a 'docking station' for the analysis of anonymised patient data on behalf of its commercial partners under strict ethical control. This ensures appropriate ethical oversight and information governance are applied, including conformance with NHS principles, EU data protection law and applicable regulatory guidance. Sensyne Health is an early signatory to the Department of Health and Social Care's 'Initial Code of Conduct for data-driven health and care technology'.
Sensyne Health and Bayer are also exploring additional opportunities for collaboration in line with Sensyne Health's business model of enabling healthcare providers and life sciences companies to collaborate ethically using the Company's clinical AI technology to analyse anonymised patient medical data to improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs and accelerate medical research.
Kemal Malik MD, Bayer board member for Innovation, said: "Access to anonymised national linked patient data heralds a new era in the discovery and development of medicines. Through the application of artificial intelligence to large sets of patient information it becomes possible to identify people that are most likely to be at risk of diseases in the future. Importantly, this will allow steps to prevent their progress along that path. Bayer is excited to make its expertise available to develop this capability."
Lord (Paul) Drayson, Chief Executive Officer of Sensyne Health plc, said: "I am delighted to have agreed this partnership with Bayer. Sensyne Health's consortium of experts already benefits from a vast array of expertise, and bringing Bayer to the table, with its long history of drug discovery and in depth pharmaceutical knowledge, will increase the chances of developing new medicines and ultimately help to relieve the strain on the NHS. Clinical AI has enormous potential for the UK health sector and Sensyne Health, along with its partners, is proud to be at the forefront of efforts to leverage this important technology in the U.K. for the benefit of patients, clinicians and the country as a whole."
About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2018, the Group employed around 117,000 people and had sales of 39.6 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.6 billion euros, R&D expenses to 5.2 billion euros.
About Sensyne Health
Sensyne Health plc is a healthcare technology company that creates value from accelerating the discovery and development of new medicines and improving patient care through the analysis of real-world evidence from large databases of anonymised patient data in collaboration with NHS Trusts. These anonymised patient data are ethically sourced in that any analysis of anonymised patient data (and hence the Company’s access to it) must be pre-approved for each programme on a case-by-case basis by the relevant NHS Trusts. This is to ensure that the purpose of the anonymisation and the proposed analysis are subject to appropriate ethical oversight and information governance, including conformance with NHS principles, UK data protection law and applicable regulatory guidance. Sensyne Health is an early signatory to the Department of Health and Social Care's 'Initial Code of Conduct for data-driven health and care technology'.Sensyne Health is listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange (SENS.L).