Pfizer acquires company that developed an app that detects COVID-19 from coughs for more than 17 billion yen
Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company that developed a vaccine for the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), has invested 100 million in ResApp, a healthcare company that developed technology to check for viral infection from the sound of coughing and patient symptoms. It became clear that it was acquired for 20 million dollars (about 17 billion yen).
UQ startup acquired by Pfizer - UQ News - The University of Queensland, Australia
Pfizer pays almost $120 million for app that detects COVID from a cough
https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/pfizer-resapp-covid-cough-diagnose-smartphone/
For about a decade, ResApp, based in Brisbane, Australia, has been working on an algorithm that can diagnose respiratory diseases simply by examining the sound of a patient's cough. Initially developed for the purpose of diagnosing pneumonia, it became effective in distinguishing asthma, croup , and bronchitis in addition to pneumonia.
With the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019, ResApp quickly developed technology to diagnose the infection, taking shape as an app for smartphones, and by early 2022 could identify 92% of people who tested positive for COVID-19. It seems that it has become possible to detect Laboratory tests may falsely test positive in uninfected patients, and the lower this rate, the more accurate the test. This ``proportion of correctly negative patients without infection'' is the specificity , and the specificity of ResApp's test is 80%.
Immediately after ResApp announced the above results, Pfizer embarked on the acquisition of the company, initially offering $ 65 million (about 9.4 billion yen). And now, there is a formal acquisition announcement, revealing that Pfizer will acquire ResApp for a sum of $ 120 million.
A Pfizer spokesperson said, 'Preliminary data is encouraging and the deal expands Pfizer's foray into the digital health space. COVID-19 detection tools are the next step in quelling the disease.' We look forward to further refining this algorithm, working with regulators around the world, and bringing it to consumers as soon as possible.'
“Remote communities in Africa and Asia lack access to sophisticated hospitals. The aim of this project is to bring better diagnostic tools to communities around the world,” said Udantha Abeyratne, one of ResApp's development teams. We hope that the acquisition by Pfizer will help grow this technology and deploy it widely in remote areas of the world.'
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