Bayer has signed collaboration agreements with eleven digital health startups, with the idea to drive forward the development of specific digital solutions to improve patients’ health in the fields of cardiovascular diseases, oncology, ophthalmology, pulmonology, radiology as well as digital therapeutics. The participating companies were selected by Bayer from over 750 applications out of 65 countries based on the strategic fit, development stage of the project, and the assessment of internal experts.

The new program offers two different ways of collaboration with Bayer in the digital health space.

• Under the terms of the Growth Track, selected early-stage startups receive 75K EUR funding for co-creating products or solutions, as well as co-working space at Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals division headquarters in Berlin, Germany. Mentoring and coaching by Bayer executives are also part of the program.
• Under the terms of the Advance Track, startups looking to co-create and execute commercial deals are supported. Here, an initial project funding is followed by incremental milestone-based payments.

Selected Advance Track partners are:

• Prevencio Med (United States): Blood based tests and algorithms to predict risk of cardiovascular diseases and events.
• Blackford Analysis (United Kingdom): A curated marketplace platform of regulatory-approved medical image analysis apps and AI algorithms for clinical value add.
• NeuroTracker (Canada): Cognitive training program designed to improve cognitive and mental performance.
• Carepay (Kenya): Carepay has a mobile health payment platform to send, save, and spend funds for healthcare.
• RelianceHMO (Nigeria): A health insurance company using software, data science, and telemedicine to make health insurance affordable and easier to access.

Selected Growth Track partners are:

• OKKO Health (United Kingdom): OKKO Health has developed a personalized smartphone software for accurate remote monitoring of visual health outside of ophthalmology clinics.
• Wellthy Theapeutics (India): Wellthy Therapeutics has a clinically validated behavioral intervention platform to help people change their behaviors and reduce their risk of chronic disease.
• Litesprite (USA): Litesprite creates games that combine medical treatment and engagement of mobile gaming to help patients proactively manage chronic health conditions such as stress, anxiety and depression.
• Visotec (Germany): At-home hand-held optical coherence tomography (OCT) for monitoring.
• BioLum Sciences (United States): Developer of the BioSense AMD – a point-of-care, low cost device that works with a proprietary biomarker technology to analyze airway inflammation.
• Upside Health: Upside Health has developed Ouchie, an app for chronic pain management through tools such as congnitive behavioral therapy, community support, pain tracking, education resources and integration with clinicians.

“Our company’s ‘G4A Digital Health Partnerships’ program paves the road for longer-term collaborations through which both parties can bring to market new solutions at the intersection of health and technology,” said Dr. Zsuzsanna Varga, who is heading the Bayer G4A Digital Health Partnerships program.