Resonance Health Ltd (ASX: RHT) (“Resonance Health” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a licence agreement with the The Kids Research Institute Australia (“The Kids”) in Perth, Western Australia, and the Erasmus University Medical Centre (“Erasmus MC”), in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, (The Kids and Erasmus MC, collectively the “Licensors”) for the use of computed tomography (“CT”) datasets that will be used by the Company in the potential development of a new artificial intelligence (“AI”) algorithm for the automated assessment of lung disease progression in patients with cystic fibrosis (“Licence Agreement”).
Resonance Health CEO, Alison Laws, said of the Agreement:
“In line with the Company’s diversification strategy, we are pleased to be able to commence on this journey to translating the outstanding research done by The Kids and Erasmus MC into a potential product for use by radiologists and lung specialists. Condition assessments and treatment for CF patients is time consuming and lengthy, and standardisation and full automation of the CT lung assessment component of the suite of assessments may both increase efficiency in reporting and provide high quality information for clinicians when making treatment decisions for patients. The Company looks forward to applying its expertise in a number of areas to this project.”
Cystic Fibrosis (“CF”) is a serious progressive genetic disease found mainly in caucasians that causes persistent lung infections and cumulative, progressive and irreversible lung damage that severely limits the quality and length of life of those living with the condition. According to the US based Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, more than 70,000 people worldwide suffer from CF with approximately 1,000 new cases of CF being diagnosed each year in the US alone. In the USA it is estimated that 1 in 25 caucasian people are carriers of one mutation of the CF gene . At present there is no cure for CF, with many lives still being cut short by the disease due to persistent lung infections and loss of lung function .
In an effort to combat this, The Kids and Erasmus MC, over several years, have developed a manual method that analyses CT scans to detect and quantify lung disease in children with CF. This method, called PRAGMA-CF, is the first early detection tool for lung damage in children with CF. Before this invention, clinicians were unable to detect irreversible lung damage until a significant percentage of the lung was damaged. PRAGMA-CF provides a tool that clinicians can use to quantify lung damage, even in very young children with CF, and track the change in lung damage over time. This allows clinicians to better monitor disease progression and to modify and tailor treatment for improved outcomes.
The Licence Agreement provides Resonance Health with co-exclusive rights (exclusive but for one other party) to use certain CT datasets labelled using the PRAGMA-CF methodology (“PRAGMA-CF Data”) for a period of 5 years, subsequent to which the Licensors may also licence the PRAGMA-CF Data to other third-parties. In using the PRAGMA-CF Data, Resonance Health will attempt to develop, and obtain regulatory clearance of, a new AI device (the “Device”) to standardise and automate the detection and quantification of lung disease in CF patients.
The PRAGMA-CF Data will be delivered in several tranches including two primary tranches, with the 1st primary tranche (comprising Erasmus MC PRAGMA-CF Data and The Kids Research Institute Australia PRAGMACF Data from a particular Melbourne-based study) to be delivered upon execution of the Licence Agreement.
Of the agreement, Professor Paul Watt, Director of Research Services and Innovation at The Kids, said:
“This new commercial alliance is the result of a productive collaboration between The Kids and Erasmus MC, one of the most active research hospitals in Europe. We’re delighted to be working together to help improve the lives of kids with CF. We chose to partner with Australian ASX-listed company Resonance Health to help develop the product, because of their proven track record in using machine learning approaches to develop new imaging medical devices for image analysis, and obtaining regulatory clearances with the regulators including the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”
Dr Thijs Spigt, Director of Technology Transfer Office at Erasmus MC, said of the Agreement:
“Creating impact with scientific inventions from researchers of our institute is one of the most challenging but also most rewarding activities of our institute. Most challenging, because an invention cannot grow and flourish without the help and further development of an enthusiastic third party, and most rewarding, because we want to contribute to improved care for vulnerable people throughout the world. Our collaboration with The Kids and Resonance Health fulfils both: We foresee that Resonance Health will develop the Device and bring it to the market, and the care for children with CF will be improved by early detection.”
Further updates will be provided as work progresses.