VILLEPINTE, France and
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Guerbet, a
global specialist in contrast agents and solutions for diagnostic
and interventional medical imaging, today announced that it has
signed a new agreement with IBM Watson Health to co-develop and
co-commercialize an artificial intelligence (AI) solution to help
clinicians diagnose and monitor patients with prostate cancer. This
agreement follows the first agreement signed in July 2018 between the two companies with the aim
of using an artificial intelligence program to help clinicians
diagnose and monitor patients with liver cancer.
Under this second program, Guerbet and IBM will work to develop
a tool using artificial intelligence with the goal of helping to
detect, segment, characterize and monitor lesions over time. This
AI approach may allow for faster and more informed diagnosis of
prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in
men (13.5% of male cancer diagnoses worldwide according to the
WHO).i The number of prostate MRIs is currently
increasing by more than 10% per year, and a 2017 Lancet clinical
studyii has shown that 27% of biopsies may be avoided
and 18% of unseen cancers detected by using multiparameter MRI.
"The main diagnostic challenge with prostate cancer lies in
identifying cancers requiring rapid treatment and those requiring
only active surveillance, while avoiding unnecessary
biopsies,"iii said
David Gruen, M.D., Chief Medical
Officer, Imaging, IBM Watson Health. "For this reason, optimal
patient outcomes depend on the rapid and accurate diagnosis and
treatments that AI technologies can potentially help provide."
"The aging of our population has made prostate cancer a global
public health problem. Some prostate cancers warrant active
therapeutic management while others require only regular
monitoring. Augmented intelligence can help enable doctors to
diagnose these different cases more rapidly and more accurately,
thus helping to potentially reduce the number of unnecessary
biopsies and allowing them to propose the most appropriate
therapeutic strategy for each patient. We look forward to
strengthening our collaboration with IBM Watson Health to expand
our portfolio of innovative diagnostic and surveillance solutions
in oncology," said Yves L'Epine, CEO of Guerbet.
The AI solution for prostate will be designed for compatibility
with most PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System)
visualization systems, which will make its direct integration into
the workflows of healthcare professionals that much easier.
"We are excited to further strengthen our partnership with
Guerbet that has already been active in liver cancer," said Anne
Le Grand, General Manager, Imaging, Life Sciences and
Oncology, IBM Watson Health. "This AI solution for prostate will be
one in a range of decision support solutions using Watson image
analysis, that may potentially help radiologists and oncologists to
diagnose conditions and make clinical decisions with patients."
"With IBM Watson Health, we will be leveraging progress made
under the initial liver collaboration for the purposes of this
second project dedicated to prostate cancer, with the same aim of
delivering augmented intelligence to help radiologists and
oncologists. This partnership is in line with Guerbet's commitment
to developing ambitious medical solutions to speed up diagnosis,
improve the patient experience, and reduce clinical risks and
costs," said François Nicolas, Chief Digital Officer for
Guerbet.
About Guerbet
Guerbet is a pioneer in the
contrast-agent field, with more than 90 years' experience, and is a
leader in medical imaging worldwide. It offers a comprehensive
range of pharmaceutical products, medical devices and services for
diagnostic and interventional imaging, to improve the diagnosis and
treatment of patients. With 8% of revenue dedicated to R&D and
more than 200 employees distributed amongst its centers in
France, Israel and the
United States, Guerbet is a substantial investor in research
and innovation. Guerbet (GBT) is listed on Euronext Paris (segment
B – mid caps) and generated €790 million in revenue in 2018. For
more information about Guerbet, please visit www.guerbet.com.
About IBM Watson Health
Watson Health is a business
unit of IBM that is dedicated to the development and implementation
of AI and data-driven technologies to advance health. Watson Health
technologies are tackling a wide range of the world's biggest
healthcare challenges including cancer, diabetes, drug discovery
and more. Learn more at ibm.com/watson/health.
Media Relations
Guerbet Global
Alize RP
Caroline Carmagnol
+33 (0)6 64 18 99 59
guerbet@alizerp.com
IBM Watson Health
Rachel Ford
Hutman
+1 301-801-5540
Rachel.Hutman@ibm.com
i "Latest global cancer data: Cancer burden
rises to 18.1 million new cases and 9.6 million cancer deaths in
2018;" Press Release; The World Health Organization;
12 September 2018
ii (Diagnostic accuracy of
multi-parametric MRI and TRUS biopsy in prostate cancer (PROMIS): a
paired validating confirmatory study. Vol. 389,
Issue 10071, pp
815-822, February 25, 2017)
iii Active surveillance for prostate cancer:
patient selection and management; L. Klotz; Curr Oncol. 2010 Sep;
17(Suppl 2): S11–S17.
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SOURCE IBM