Novartis said it will collaborate with IBM Watson Health on an initiative that will combine Novartis’ expertise in breast cancer with Watson’s data analytics and machine learning to advance cancer care and boost patient outcomes.
"Through this collaboration with IBM Watson Health, we will use real-world breast cancer data and cognitive computing to identify solutions that may help physicians better understand which therapy may be best for which patients or advise clinical practice guidelines, with the goal of improving patient outcomes and experiences,” Bruno Strigini, CEO of Novartis Oncology, said in a release. “We hope this collaboration also uncovers care efficiencies that can be applied beyond breast cancer.”
Watson is a supercomputer that joins artificial intelligence and an analytical system to analyze high volumes of data, understand complex questions posed in natural language, and propose evidence-based answers, all delivered via the cloud, the Novartis release said.
“At Watson Health, we are tackling some of the world's greatest challenges at the nexus of science and data, and we are proud to work with Novartis to better individualize advanced breast cancer treatment approaches in an effort to enhance patient care,” Anil Jain,chief medical informatics officer at IBM Watson Health, said in the release. “As the industry shifts toward value-based care, it's critical for clinicians to understand the real-world outcomes of therapeutics on subsets of their patients, and our goal ultimately is to put those insights into oncologists' hands. With the deep expertise of Novartis in breast cancer, we are confident that this collaboration may provide transformative tools for clinicians and patients to make more informed treatment decisions."
