Novartis, IBM Watson collab to optimize care for patients with advanced breast cancer

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) said today that it inked a deal with IBM Watson Health to optimize care and improve outcomes for patients with advanced breast cancer.

The 2 companies plan to develop a “cognitive solution” using real-world patient data and analytics to better understand expected outcomes of breast cancer treatment options and develop personalized treatment plans for patients.

“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,” Novartis Oncology CEO Bruno Strigini said in prepared remarks. “We hope this collaboration also uncovers care efficiencies that can be applied beyond breast cancer.”

“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,” Dr. Anil Jain, chief medical informatics officer at IBM Watson Health, said. “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.”

Novartis has 4 products on the market for breast cancer and also has the most compounds in development for breast cancer among its competitors, according to the company.