RenalytixAI Raises $29 Million to Commercialize AI-Enabled Clinical Diagnostic Solutions for Kidney Disease
Solutions to Improve Detection, Management and Treatment of Kidney Disease, Which Impacts More Than 850 Million Globally
Mount Sinai to Collaborate for Launch of Initial Product, KidneyIntelX™, in 2019
NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Renalytix AI plc (LSE AIM: RENX), a developer of artificial intelligence-enabled clinical diagnostics for kidney disease, has secured $29 million in funding to support the development and commercialization of two product categories for the early detection of kidney disease and accurate management of kidney transplant rejection. The Company intends to launch its first diagnostic product, KidneyIntelX™, in 2019 in collaboration with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the medical school of the Mount Sinai Health System ("Mount Sinai").
Following the successful completion of its fundraising on November 6, 2018, RenalytixAI started trading publicly on AIM, a market of the London Stock Exchange. The related announcement can be found here.
"RenalytixAI now has the financial resources to drive advanced diagnostic development to improve the management and cost of kidney disease," said James McCullough, chief executive officer, RenalytixAI. "We are grateful to our investors and medical collaborators who are committed to reducing the impact of this disease."
"We're pleased to be collaborating with RenalytixAI, an emerging industry leader in healthcare AI, on the development of breakthrough prognostics and diagnostics for renal disease," said Erik Lium, PhD, executive vice president of Mount Sinai Innovation Partners. "Renal disease represents an increasing healthcare crisis globally, and early detection and intervention can change the course of this disease."
Kidney disease is now recognized as a public health epidemic affecting over 850 million people globally. In the United States alone, over 40 million people are classified as having chronic kidney disease, with nearly 50 percent of individuals with advanced (Stage IV) disease unaware of the severity of their reduced kidney function. As a result, many patients progress to kidney failure in an unplanned manner, ending up having dialysis in the emergency room without ever seeing a clinical specialist, such as a nephrologist. Every day 13 patients die in the United States while waiting for a kidney transplant.
"Kidney disease is a major challenge for healthcare systems around the globe," said Barbara Murphy, MD, dean for Clinical Integration and Population Health, and Murray M. Rosenberg Professor and Chair, Samuel Bronfman Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, board member and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of RenalytixAI. "We're responding to this critical unmet need by developing two products that will identify patients at risk for kidney disease progression and dialysis, and categorize the type of risk that will be experienced by kidney transplant patients."
The Company's technology platform will draw from distinct sources of health data, including systems containing extensive electronic health records, predictive blood-based biomarkers and other genomic information for analysis by high-performance, learning computer algorithms (machine learning). In combining these different inputs to develop its products, RenalytixAI has the potential to create novel and powerful models for the prediction of disease progression and drug/therapy response in individual patients. The Company intends to submit KidneyIntelX™ for regulatory review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In May 2018, the Company secured a cornerstone collaboration with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for product development and intended commercialization by the Company beginning in 2019. As part of the collaboration, Mount Sinai became a shareholder in the Company and made a further equity investment in the recent funding.
About RenalytixAI
RenalytixAI is a developer of artificial intelligence-enabled clinical diagnostic solutions for kidney disease, one of the most common and costly chronic medical conditions globally. The Company's solutions are being designed to make significant improvements in kidney disease diagnosis and prognosis, clinical care, patient stratification for drug clinical trials, and drug target discovery. For more information visit: renalytixai.com.
About Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP)
MSIP is responsible for driving the real-world application and commercialization of Mount Sinai discoveries and inventions, and the development of research partnerships with industry. Our aim is to translate discoveries and inventions into health care products and services that benefit patients and society. MSIP is accountable for the full spectrum of commercialization activities required to bring Mount Sinai inventions to life. These activities include evaluating, patenting, marketing and licensing new technologies building research, collaborations and partnerships with commercial and nonprofit entities, material transfer and confidentiality, coaching innovators to advance commercially-relevant translational discoveries, and actively fostering an ecosystem of entrepreneurship within the Mount Sinai research and health system communities. For more information, visit www.ip.mountsinai.org.
SOURCE RenalytixAI