Novartis has become the latest pharmaceutical company to partner with IBM Watson, with pharma firm and IT company set to collaborate in advanced breast cancer.
The partners will combine real-world patient data and cognitive computing to ‘optimise cancer care and improve outcomes’.
Bruno Strigini, CEO at Novartis Oncology, said: “Through this collaboration with IBM Watson Health, we will use real-world breast cancer data and cognitive computing to identify solutions that may help physicians better understand which therapy may be best for which patients or advise clinical practice guidelines, with the goal of improving patient outcomes and experiences.
“We hope this collaboration also uncovers care efficiencies that can be applied beyond breast cancer.”
The Swiss pharma firm will see it work with IBM Watson Health on a ‘cognitive solution’ that can provide better insights on the expected outcomes of breast cancer treatment options.
In particular the companies will be look at which combinations and sequences of treatments can lead to the best patient outcomes in breast cancer, a priority area for Novartis Oncology.
Anil Jain, chief medical informatics officer at IBM Watson Health, said: “As the industry shifts toward value-based care, it’s critical for clinicians to understand the real-world outcomes of therapeutics on subsets of their patients, and our goal ultimately is to put those insights into oncologists’ hands.
“With the deep expertise of Novartis in breast cancer, we are confident that this collaboration may provide transformative tools for clinicians and patients to make more informed treatment decisions.”
For IBM the deal marks the latest stage in expanding a client base that already includes work with Otsuka and Novo Nordisk, using healthcare data in psychiatric disorders and diabetes respectively.
The firm has also been successful at persuading pharma clients to use its software for drug research, where it’s working with Pfizer, Lundbeck and Teva.
