Renalytix AI and University of Utah announce partnership to improve kidney health

Renalytix AI plc, an artificial intelligence-enabled in vitro diagnostics company, and the University of Utah, one of the top research institutions in the United States, today announced a partnership to improve kidney health and reduce the risk of kidney failure for large scale populations in the earliest stages of kidney disease.

The partnership intends to implement RenalytixAI's in vitro diagnostic platform, KidneyIntelX, in combination with a range of advanced clinical management solutions to optimize patient care and drive towards improved outcomes system-wide at University of Utah Health, which serves millions of patients in six states. KidneyIntelX is designed for the identification of adults with early-stage chronic kidney disease and diabetes who are at risk for progressive kidney function decline or kidney failure.

Core to this partnership is the implementation of care navigation and pharmacy programs, behavioral and health economic assessments, together with data-driven analytics. KidneyIntelX will be deployed directly into the electronic health records (EHR) system at University of Utah Health, enabling access to more than 1,700 clinicians for seamless test ordering and patient risk score reporting as part of the standard clinical workflow.

The RenalytixAI and University of Utah partnership was facilitated by the university's designated office for industry relations, The Partners for Innovation, Ventures, Outreach & Technology (PIVOT) Center.

"Working with RenalytixAI to improve kidney disease management yields the University of Utah new avenues to innovate approaches to translational research, health informatics, and clinical care," said John Inadomi, chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine. "This partnership is exciting because it is so forward looking. It also demonstrates the value of having a resource like the PIVOT Center which is able to drive complicated relations for our exceptional health enterprise."

"RenalytixAI is a unique and ideal partner to engage in a multi-dimensional collaboration like this, in real-time and at scale," said Keith Marmer, chief innovation and economic engagement officer, University of Utah. "The University of Utah's PIVOT Center is focused on catalyzing the innovation ecosystem in Utah by integrating technology commercialization, economic development and corporate engagement, and this partnership with RenalytixAI serves as a terrific example of how we've come together to do just that."

"University of Utah's clinical and translational expertise presents an ideal opportunity to interrupt the devastating and costly effects of progressive chronic kidney disease from its earliest stages to help prevent irreversible late-stage kidney disease and dialysis," said James McCullough, chief executive officer, RenalytixAI. "This partnership is enabling RenalytixAI to address a major health problem, help build the life sciences sector in Utah and show the economic value of such a robust public private collaboration. We look forward to being able to announce additional innovative partnerships of this type in the near future."

Integral to the partnership, RenalytixAI and the University of Utah are supporting continued research and development in: 1) understanding kidney disease progression and improving clinical management in underserved minority communities; 2) novel care delivery and treatment models in early-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) across all populations; and 3) identifying genetic biomarkers for incorporation into KidneyIntelX and other machine learning-driven algorithms to enhance diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of patients in the earliest disease stages. RenalytixAI will be providing financial support to the University of Utah over a five-year period in the form of sponsored research, software and education program development, and third-party resources in each of these critical areas.

"The growing partnership between RenalytixAI and the University of Utah is an ideal example of the great innovation possible within Utah's rich life sciences ecosystem," said Katelin Roberts, interim director of BioHive, a thriving collective of more than 1,100 companies representing the life science and healthcare innovation ecosystem of Utah's economy. "The entrepreneurial, can-do spirit of the partners, coupled with unique technology and research capacities, will potentially enable new advances in patient care and disease management throughout the state."

This partnership follows RenalytixAI's establishment of a new commercial laboratory in the University of Utah's Research Park in 2020 and demonstrates the continued growth of RenalytixAI's operations for the western United States. RenalytixAI intends to rapidly expand employees and infrastructure in the state and accelerate the availability of advanced precision medicine diagnostics for Utah diabetes and kidney disease patients.