BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PureTech Health plc (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) (“PureTech” or the “Company”), a biotherapeutics company, today announces that its Founded Entity, Sonde Health (“Sonde”), a leading enterprise vocal biomarker company, has signed a multi-year agreement with Koye Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharma organization focused on the Indian Pharmaceutical market, to develop a new vocal biomarker detection and monitoring capability for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in India. This deal represents Sonde’s first partnership with a pharmaceutical company.
As part of this arrangement, Koye will leverage Sonde’s vocal biomarker development platform, expanding upon its already existing respiratory responsive vocal biomarker, to create an entirely novel vocal biomarker for COPD in India. This will allow Koye to develop solutions that help track and treat respiratory health in COPD patients using their voice.
Sonde Health has previously developed and commercialized vocal biomarker technology to detect and monitor respiratory impairment. In early 2022, the company partnered with GN Group, a leading global manufacturer of hearing instruments and audiological diagnostics equipment and headsets, to create vocal biomarker technology to detect Mild Cognitive Impairment.
The full text of the announcement from Sonde is as follows:
Sonde Health Inks Multi-Year Partnership with Koye Pharmaceuticals
Strategic partnership created to develop and license a new vocal biomarker detection and monitoring capability for COPD in India
BOSTON – August 24, 2022 -- Sonde Health, a leading enterprise vocal biomarker company, has signed a multi-year agreement with Koye Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharma organization focused on the Indian Pharmaceutical market, to develop a new vocal biomarker detection and monitoring capability for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in India. This deal represents Sonde’s first partnership with a pharmaceutical company.
As part of this arrangement, Koye will leverage Sonde’s vocal biomarker development (VBD) platform, expanding upon its already existing respiratory responsive vocal biomarker, to create an entirely novel vocal biomarker for COPD in India. This will allow Koye to develop solutions that help track and treat respiratory health in COPD patients using their voice.
“This collaboration marks a major milestone in Sonde Health’s growth and evolution, and we’re excited to take this step with Koye Pharmaceuticals,” David Liu, CEO of Sonde Health. “Partnering directly with pharmaceutical companies allows them to take a more targeted and engaging approach with prospective patients, aligning their needs with the most impactful therapeutics. While there’s no cure for COPD, this new vocal biomarker will allow physicians to better manage their patients’ symptoms using early monitoring and constant engagement to ensure those impacted by COPD get on the right treatment plans early and often.”
COPD, a chronic inflammatory lung disease that creates airflow blockage and makes it difficult to breathe, is the third leading cause of death worldwide – causing 3.23 million deaths in 2019, according to the World Health Organization – and the second highest cause of death and disability in adjusted life years (DALYs) in India after heart disease, per the University of Washington’s Global Burden of Disease study. As of 2018, India had 18% of the world’s population, but 32% of the COPD cases. COPD was responsible for 13% of all deaths in India. A worldwide study has estimated that India’s death rate from COPD during 2019 was 98 per 100,000 population, three times the American rate of 33 and the British rate of 31. According to the latest figures, India has an estimated 50 million people living with COPD.
“We have been keen on utilizing an accessible platform with digital biomarkers that will both aid physicians in identifying and understanding their patients’ conditions better and also make it easier for patients with chronic respiratory conditions to monitor their health in the least invasive way possible. This partnership with Sonde Health is exactly what we were looking for,” said Preetish Toraskar, Founder and Director at Koye Pharmaceuticals. “Not only is Sonde at the forefront of vocal biomarker technology, but their extensive experience in respiratory health will prove invaluable as we work to get this debilitating condition under control in India.”
Sonde Health has previously developed and commercialized vocal biomarker technology to detect and monitor respiratory impairment. In early 2022, the company partnered with GN Group, a leading global manufacturer of hearing instruments and audiological diagnostics equipment and headsets, to create vocal biomarker technology to detect Mild Cognitive Impairment.
Sonde Health and Koye Pharmaceuticals plan to explore developing more vocal biomarkers during their multi-year arrangement.
About Sonde Health
Sonde Health has developed an enterprise vocal biomarker platform that enables any company to either license respiratory or mental fitness monitoring product or create a novel vocal biomarker product. Sonde scales data collection, feature development, model creation and clinical validation in collaboration with its partners and customers. Leveraging over 1 million voice samples from 80,000+ individuals, Sonde uses advanced audio signal processing and machine learning to sense and analyze subtle vocal changes due to changes in a person’s physiology to provide key insights into health and well-being. www.sondehealth.com
About Koye Pharmaceuticals
Koye Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. was founded in 2013 by two experienced professionals of the pharma industry, Mr. Preetish Toraskar and Mr. Ravindra Shenoy. Since its foundation, Koye has expanded its operations to run across the length and breadth of the country aided by their strong distribution network. Koye today has more than 1250+ qualified ambassadors who meet up with more than 100,000+ doctors across the country every month. The company which believes in pursuing 'healthiness' has a strong foothold in different therapeutic segments that include state-of-the-art products in Specialty Primary Care, Respiratory, Gynaecology, IVF and Cardio-Diabetic segments.
About PureTech Health
PureTech is a biotherapeutics company dedicated to changing the treatment paradigm for devastating diseases. The Company has created a broad and deep pipeline through the expertise of its experienced research and development team and its extensive network of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders.
This pipeline, which is being advanced both internally and through PureTech's Founded Entities, is comprised of 27 therapeutics and therapeutic candidates, including two that have received both U.S. FDA clearance and European marketing authorization, as of the date of PureTech's most recently filed Annual Report and corresponding Form 6-K. All of the underlying programs and platforms that resulted in this pipeline of therapeutic candidates were initially identified or discovered and then advanced by the PureTech team through key validation points based on unique insights in immunology and drug development.
For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect with us on Twitter @puretechh
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation those statements that relate to our expectations regarding Sonde’s vocal biomarker development platform and its monitoring capability for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, its ability to potentially develop a new vocal biomarker detection and monitoring capability for COPD in India, and Sonde’s future prospects, development plans, and strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from current expectations, including, but not limited to, those risks, uncertainties and other important factors described under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the SEC and in our other regulatory filings. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of the Company and the environment in which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements, we disclaim any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
