RetinAI Medical AG and Retina Consultants of America (RCA) partner to develop database using AI

The companies plant to create a comprehensive resource that provides valuable insights into health outcomes, medication adherence, and the effectiveness of various treatment protocols. (Image Credit: ©putilov_denis - Adobe.Stock.com)

RetinAI Medical AG and Retina Consultants of America (RCA), have announced a strategic partnership to develop the most extensive and AI-insight-driven real-world evidence (RWE) US-based database in ophthalmology.

According to a news release, this partnership will leverage RetinAI's innovative digital health technologies and RCA's network of clinics to analyze real-world health clinical and imaging data. The result will be a comprehensive resource that provides valuable insights into health outcomes, medication adherence, and the effectiveness of various treatment protocols.

The companies noted in the release that by using RCA’s quality-driven datasets and best-in-practice imaging standards for ophthalmic care and RetinAI’s Discovery platform to aggregate, organize and analyze multimodal data at scale including the company’s certified and advanced research AI models for biomarker analysis and predictive disease analytics, the database will combine the best in clinical and imaging data with detailed insights.

With the growing demand for real-world data from the industry, this partnership is poised to make a significant impact on data-driven decisions, according to the news release. The RWE database will offer healthcare stakeholders an unparalleled opportunity to gain insights into drug efficacy, improve drug development processes, and enhance patient care.

The companies will invest in efforts to provide licensed access to the RWE data in Q4 2023 to stakeholders interested in analysis, research and clinical study design for optimizing patient care. RCA and RetinAI will generate RWE in retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) - including intermediate AMD (iAMD), geographic atrophy (GA) and neovascular AMD (nAMD) - and diabetic macular edema (DME), diabetic retinopathy (DR) and expand to areas of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases where retinal imaging plays a role in identifying disease.

Carlos Ciller, MD, pointed out that through the agreement, the companies are boosting the efficiency and robustness of making decisions around patient care, with a scale of biomarker-driven insights from quality-driven, real-world data.

“This will enable an elevated level of target-based research and patient-centric care for continuous improvement to patient outcomes and the introduction of new precision-based medicines,” he said.

David M. Brown, MD, chairman of RCA’s leadership board, pointed out that the company was pleased to be teaming up with RetinAI to combat blindness.

“We’ve established the largest group of top-ranked retinal care and research practices in the US and through this network and this collaboration with RetinAI, we want to unlock a deeper level of understanding of retinal diseases,” Brown said in the news release.

Charles Wykoff, MD, director of Research at Retina Consultants of Texas and chairman of the Research and Clinical Trials Committee of RCA, highlighted the benefits of the partnership.

“Successfully linking clinical data with imaging data across our powerful database enables tremendously exciting research opportunities,” Wykoff said in the news release. “We believe our partnership with RetinAI meaningfully enhances our ability to advance the retina landscape by supporting healthcare providers, payers, and industry partners developing novel therapeutics with comprehensive real-world data from leading retina practices, all towards the goal of optimizing patient outcomes.”

Retina Consultants of America is a network of leading retina specialists focused solely on retinal care with the mission of saving sight and improving patient lives through innovation and the highest quality care. It was created by retina surgeons in partnership with Webster Equity Partners in 2020 and headquartered in Southlake, Texas, and operates in more than 200 locations in 20 states.

RetinAI Medical AG, founded in early 2017, is a Swiss company developing software solutions to accelerate clinical, research and pharmaceutical workflows globally using advanced machine learning and computer vision.