AZ partners with Aptar on kidney disease-detecting AI

AstraZeneca has turned to another digital health partner to support its aspirations in chronic kidney disease (CKD), joining forces with Aptar to develop algorithms that can be used to detect CKD as well as other cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic conditions.

Under the terms of the new deal, Aptar will take artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms developed by AZ to detect CKD during eye examinations, in much the same approach as eye tests are already used to signal whether a person has diabetes, and see how they can be used to support screening and earlier detection of CKD in clinical practice.

AZ's SGLT2 inhibitor Farxiga/Forxiga (dapagliflozin) was the first drug in the class to get regulatory approval to treat CKD, and is the base medicine in a series of combination therapies – alongside aldosterone synthase inhibitor baxdrostat, mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) modulator balcinrenone, and endothelin-A antagonist zibotentan – that the drugmaker is developing for the disease.

Sometimes referred to as a 'silent killer', CKD affects between 8% and 16% of the global population is often goes undiagnosed, so improved screening methods are desperately needed. It is expected to become the fifth leading cause of mortality globally by 2040.

AZ already has an agreement in place with Taiwan-based digital health firm Health2Sync to develop digital patient management programmes for CKD that can filter patients into various groups based on their lab results, spot worsening symptoms, and help to guide treatment, and is partnering with HealthShare on the use of a pre-consultation clinical questionnaire that it hopes will also serve as a useful screening tool.

Meanwhile, the company is also deploying a device developed by ImpediMed in its clinical trials of CKD candidates that can measure fluid status and tissue composition in less than 30 seconds using a technology known as bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS).

Aptar Digital Health is part of Aptar Pharma, a drug delivery device specialist that expanded into the digital area when it bought Cohero in 2020 Voluntis in 2021. Since then, it has been developing a suite of digital support tools for patients, including a disease management platform that is being deployed by Chiesi for patients with respiratory conditions, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The new AZ collaboration "enables Aptar Digital Health to broaden its scope in the field of biomarkers and digital diagnostics, opening up new opportunities to harness digital health technology to detect diseases earlier and accelerate identification of individuals in need of care," said Gael Touya, president of Aptar Pharma.