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- Artificial intelligence company Houston We Have (HWH) acquires life sciences technology company Alerte Echo IQ
- Echo IQ uses AI and its proprietary National Echo Database Australia (NEDA) to predict patients at risk of heart valve condition aortic stenosis
- HWH says it will use Echo’s database of echocardiogram records to develop enhanced algorithms using the ECHOiQ platform
- Meanwhile, HWH has been working with industry specific consultants in the US to snag regulatory approvals for ECHOiQ
- Houston We Have is down 4 per cent, trading at 12 cents at 1:45 pm AEST
Artificial intelligence company Houston We Have (HWH) has acquired life sciences technology company Alerte Echo IQ.
Echo IQ is a specialist artificial intelligence provider that uses AI and its proprietary National Echo Database Australia (NEDA) to predict patients at risk of heart valve condition, aortic stenosis (AS).
Earlier and accurate detection of AS is said to significantly increases the possibility to treat patients with either a surgical or transcatheter aortic valve replacements, which lead to an improved quality of life.
Through the acquisition, HWH now has 17 years of exclusive access to the NEDA database, the world’s largest source of data acquired from echocardiograms linked to outcomes performed in Australia, made up of over 1.4 million records.
HWH says it will use these records to develop enhanced algorithms and diagnostic capability using the ECHOiQ platform.
Houston We Have Chairman Andrew Grover said the acquisition provides the company with the ability to leverage its expertise in AI-driven decision making into one of the world’s largest health markets, cardiovascular disease.
“We have the potential to improve patient outcomes based on our unique access to the NEDA database, which importantly, continues to grow, providing an extensive dataset for us to develop enhanced algorithms and diagnostic capability across a number of cardiology related indications,” Andrew Grover said.
The ECHOiQ platform will firstly be used as an aortic stenosis phenotyper, specifically developed for earlier detection of a mortality risk associated with AS.
HWH has also begun technical development initiatives to enable the ECHOiQ platform to expand its diagnostic capabilities into other common cardio related indications, and product development to support this enhanced capability is underway. The company said trademarking and commercial naming protections are currently being sought to support this.
The company will begin pursuing clinical trial work to demonstrate and support the efficacy of the ECHOiQ platform with its chosen diagnostic indications.
Meanwhile, HWH has been working with industry specific consultants in the US to snag regulatory approvals for ECHOiQ, starting with approval from the FDA.
Houston We Have was down 4 per cent, trading at 12 cents at 1:45 pm AEST.
