On 31 May 2021, ASX-listed Artificial Intelligence (AI) company Houston We Have (HWH) acquired life sciences technology company Alerte Digital Health subsidiary, Echo IQ Pty Ltd (ECHO IQ) – a significant sale and a big step toward the next generation of AI medical services.
The first major commercialisation sale of its interests was sold for an initial $1M in cash and over 23M shares in HWH with a further $3.9M in cash and shares, subject to achieving milestones.
Alerte’s CEO Razali Mohamad says that this buyout “illustrates the trend towards the next generation of AI medical services”. It also signals other consequences that will allow Alerte to focus on other developments.
The sale of EchoIQ has (positive) consequences which include the acceleration of the time to market for sophisticated AI technology in the field of echocardiography.
Alerte has multiple AI applications and will be able to focus on its core product whilst it being able to benefit from the successes of HWH.
Razali Mohamad, Alerte CEO
Alerte, who was also the award for Western Australian Startup of the Year at the 2019 INCITE Awards, will now turn its focus on deploying and commercialising the company’s core AI ECG product, Atrio, with a range of partners.
Atrio is a cloud ECG AI platform developed by Alerte which will reduce the time taken to perform a long-term ECG analysis and reporting by 50% through its cloud AI diagnostic.
Atrio has been successfully deployed at early adopter sites for the past 9 months providing long-term ECG analysis and reporting qualifying for a Medicare Rebate of $147 per report.
Currently, Alerte is currently in discussions with multiple service providers interested in the use of, or distribution of the Atrio service for long-term ECG monitoring, in Australia and worldwide.
About HWH
Describing itself as a ‘Human AI Company’, HWH’s software focuses on problem resolution where risks need to be assessed and mitigated. Their services include data-driven modules to address fraud, compliance and insurance claims and have been used by a vast range of industries, such as defence, insurance, and health.
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.
HWH 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
HWH Chairman, Andrew Grover
