- ResApp Health (RAP) has partnered with Ilara Health to bring its smartphone app for acute respiratory disease diagnosis, ResAppDx, to Kenya
- Ilara will promote, market and sell the app over an initial term of three years, after which the agreement may be renewed for successive 12-month periods
- The deal follows a three-month pilot program, under which Ilara evaluated the use of ResAppDx at five of its partner medical facilities
- ResAppDx uses machine-learning to analyse signatures in cough sounds, enabling it to diagnose respiratory diseases using a smartphone’s built-in microphone
- Shares in ResApp Health finished trading yesterday at 5.1 cents each
ResApp Health (RAP) has partnered with Ilara Health to bring its smartphone app for acute respiratory disease diagnosis, ResAppDx, to Kenya.
According to the non-exclusive distribution deal, Ilara will promote, market and sell the app over an initial term of three years. At the end of the period, the agreement may be renewed for successive 12-month periods and may be terminated by either party with 90 days’ notice.
Based in Nairobi, Ilara powers existing primary care facilities with a suite of tools designed to bridge the diagnostic gap in sub-Saharan Africa. The company is currently partnered with more than 250 clinics across Kenya’s four largest cities and has plans over the next year to expand throughout the rest of the country and into new African markets.
The deal follows a three-month pilot program that was announced in June last year, under which Ilara evaluated the use of ResAppDx at five of its partner medical facilities.
“We have been thrilled with the simplicity, ease of use and confidence that ResAppDx has instilled in clinicians and patients,” said Emilian Popa, CEO of Ilara Health.
“We see significant benefits that ResAppDx offers our partner clinics across Kenya as a low-cost and accurate respiratory diagnostic test.”
ResAppDx uses machine-learning to analyse signatures in cough sounds, enabling it to diagnose respiratory diseases using a smartphone’s built-in microphone.
The technology is CE marked in Europe and has been approved as a medical device in Kenya.
“We are pleased that Ilara has seen the considerable value that our important diagnostic support provides their customers,” said Tony Keating, Managing Director and CEO of ResApp Health.
“Importantly, the pilot evaluation demonstrated the benefits of ResAppDx in a face-to-face, in-clinic setting and in a country with high unmet need for such diagnostics.”
It’s estimated that around 500 million people in Africa struggle to access quality healthcare, with many doctors significantly limited in their ability to provide diagnostic services at their clinics.
The World Health Organisation estimates that lower respiratory tract infections are the leading cause of death in Africa, resulting in nearly a million fatalities in 2016.
Shares in ResApp Health finished trading yesterday at 5.1 cents each.