Renalytix AI enters chronic kidney disease partnership with DaVita

Artificial intelligence (AI) diagnostics company Renalytix AI announced on Tuesday that it was partnering with DaVita on a programme aimed at slowing disease progression and improving health outcomes for the 37 million adults in the United States with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

The AIM-traded firm said the programme was expected to improve patient outcomes and provide meaningful cost reductions for healthcare providers and payors, by enabling earlier intervention for patients with early-stage kidney disease, through actionable risk assessments and end-to-end care management.

It said the collaboration was expected to launch in three major markets in 2021.

As the programme expanded, DaVita and Renalytix AI intended to pursue risk-sharing arrangements with healthcare providers and payors to drive kidney disease patient care innovation, cost efficiencies and improve quality of life.

“Almost 50% of people whose kidneys fail find out after it is too late, and we are on a mission to change that,” said DaVita chief executive officer Javier Rodriguez.

“Our partnership with Renalytix AI could allow us to help slow disease progression for the millions of people living with kidney disease.”

The programme would use the ‘KidneyIntelX’ in vitro diagnostic platform from Renalytix AI, which uses a machine learning algorithm to assess a combination of biomarkers from a simple blood draw with features from the electronic health record to generate a patient-specific risk score.

Renalytix AI said the initial version of the KidneyIntelX risk score identified type-2 diabetic patients with early-stage CKD as low, intermediate or high-risk for progressive decline in kidney function or kidney failure.

The integrated programme could also help reduce kidney disease misclassification, which left some higher-risk patients without recommended treatment.

It said the expected outcome of the collaboration would also be used to expand indicated use claims for KidneyIntelX.

After risk stratification, programme patients identified as intermediate- and high-risk would receive care management support through DaVita's integrated kidney care programme, for which Renalytix AI would compensate DaVita in lieu of providing those services itself.

DaVita's integrated kidney care programme consisted of a coordinated care team, practical digital health tools, patient education and other offerings, the company explained.

Renalytix AI said the services were designed to empower patients to be active in their care, delay disease progression, improve outcomes and lower costs.

DaVita's team also closely collaborated with the treating nephrologist, leading the care team, to create a seamless care experience.

For patients whose kidney disease did progress, the company said earlier intervention could provide the patient and treating nephrologist more time to make an informed decision about the treatment option that was best for them, including pre-emptive transplantation, home dialysis or in-center dialysis.

For those patients who chose to begin dialysis, the extra time increased their chance for an outpatient dialysis start, which could help them to avoid starting dialysis with a “costly” hospitalisation.

“This is the first clinical-grade program that delivers advanced early-stage prognosis and risk stratification, combined with actionable care management right to the primary care level where the majority of kidney disease patients are being seen," said Renalytix AI chief executive officer James McCullough.

“Making fundamental change in kidney disease health economics and outcomes must begin with providing a clear, actionable understanding of disease progression risk.”

At 1101 GMT, shares in Renalytix AI were up 16.36% at 640p.