ResApp Health Limited, an ASX-listed company that has its origins in Perth, has been acquired by American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer for $179 million.
The company has built an app that can diagnose Covid-19 and other respiratory diseases by analysing a patient’s cough. Studies have suggested the technology is 92% accurate in regards to the coronavirus.
The app records the cough of a patient on a smartphone and in particular analyses sounds and typical symptoms, such as a runny rose. Along with Covid-19, it can measure the severity of chronic and acute disease such as asthma, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, croup and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The accuracy for pneumonia and asthma is 96% and 90% respectively.
Clinical trails for Covid-19 are continuing and if successful, the technology could potentially reduce the number of PCR and rapid antigen tests worldwide – saving billions globally, along with less environmental damage.
The University of Queensland (UQ)’s School of IT and Electrical Engineering, headed by Associate Professor Udantha Abeyratne, developed the technology in Brisbane before UniQuest, the university’s commercialisation company, licensed the UQ technology to ResApp in September 2014.
“We worked closely with paediatricians and respiratory physicians to develop the diagnostic technology,” Dr Abeyratne said.
“I hope they will be able to diagnose killer diseases like pneumonia in very remote communities in Africa and Asia because they don’t have access to sophisticated hospitals.”
Associate Professor Udantha Abeyratne
The technology has received recognition globally, along with a Globa Grand Challenges grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss added he had witnessed the growth of the health-tech company keenly.
“This is one of the most exciting Australian biotech deals to come out of university research,” Dr Moss said.
“It’s rewarding that the company’s technological breakthroughs have attracted this significant international backing.”
Currently, ResAppDx is CE Marked in the European Union and TGA approved here in Australia.
