ResApp and Coviu team up to provide remote respiratory tests through telehealth platform
ResApp Health has inked a deal to integrate its respiratory diagnostic test into Coviu’s telehealth platform for clinicians to assess patients remotely.
Digital health company ResApp Health (ASX: RAP) has inked a binding deal to integrate its ResAppDx-EU diagnostic test into Coviu’s telehealth platform to enable clinicians to perform respiratory assessments remotely.
ResAppDx-EU is a smartphone-based acute respiratory disease diagnostic test that uses machine learning algorithms to analyse a patient’s cough sounds to diagnose lower respiratory tract diseases such as pneumonia and asthma. The app is CE Marked in the European Union and is approved by the Therapeutics Goods Administration in Australia.
Considered Australia’s leading telehealth software company, Coviu offers video consultation software to healthcare businesses – a service that is a key component in Australia’s strategy to fight the spread of COVID-19.
“The federal government has announced that from today, Medicare will reimburse all telehealth consultations, giving every Australian the opportunity to consult with their doctor from the comfort and safety of their own home,” Coviu chief executive officer and co-founder Dr Silvia Pfeiffer said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has put many healthcare workers at risk of contracting the highly contagious disease. Patients who may suspect that they have COVID-19, but are in fact unwell with another respiratory condition, are also putting themselves at risk if they attend an overworked clinic,” she said.
“By using ResAppDx-EU inside our telehealth platform, clinicians can make more informed decisions when triaging the many patients who present with respiratory symptoms, which is especially important as the COVID-19 pandemic starts to coincide with the winter flu season,” Dr Pfeiffer added.
ResApp chief executive officer and managing director Tony Keating said Coviu’s “web-based easy-to-use telehealth platform is experiencing exponential growth and is designed to integrate a range of digital tools to enhance the clinicians’ capabilities”.
Deal terms
Under the signed and binding commercial terms sheet, ResApp and Coviu have agreed upon a per test fee for the use of the smartphone app on Coviu’s platform. While the specific fee has not been disclosed, ResApp said it is in the range of $5-10 per test.
The non-exclusive licence has an initial two-year term and may be extended by mutual agreement.
ResApp said the pair intend to rapidly progress to a formal licence agreement and plan to have ResAppDx-EU available for use by all clinicians on Coviu’s platform “within a few months”.
Smartphone app deployment in Australia and Europe
Today’s news follows a string of announcements by ResApp in the past week.
In addition to Coviu, the company’s app will be integrated into the telehealth platform of another Australian medical tech company, Phenix Health.
ResApp is also building its presence in the European market, with the UK Health Research Authority approving a multi-site health economic evaluation of ResAppDx-EU when applied to adults in accident and emergency departments. The evaluation will be conducted at the University College London Hospitals, the Royal London Hospital and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
However, the COVID-19 has pushed back recruitment in these evaluations until “the demand placed on UK A&E departments from the pandemic has subsided”.
“ResApp has received a significant amount of interest in the use of its smartphone-based diagnostic technology for the triage of COVID-19 patients and is in detailed discussions with a number of healthcare systems, including in the UK, regarding specific COVID-19 implementations and studies using ResAppDx-EU to triage patients with respiratory symptoms and prioritise patient access to over-burdened clinics,” the company stated.
In other recent news, ResApp appointed Jamie Joint as the director of sales and market for Europe.
Mr Keating said the European market is an “important commercial opportunity” for ResApp with significant growth being observed in the adoption of new digital technologies across the region’s healthcare systems.
ResApp also today announced that Nathan Buzza resigned from his role as non-executive director on the company’s board.