IBM and Teva collaborate to expand global e-Health alliance

IBM and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Teva) have expanded their global e-Health alliance with a focus on two key healthcare challenges: the discovery of new treatment options and improving chronic disease management. Both projects will run on the IBM Watson Health Cloud.

The expanded partnership features a new, three-year research collaboration to develop cognitive technologies that can enable a systematic approach to the emerging field of drug repurposing and deliver unprecedented scale in the discovery of new uses for existing drugs.

The companies also announced that respiratory and central nervous system (CNS) diseases will be the first targets for their chronic disease management initiative, which will be the first project to integrate data from The Weather Company (an IBM Business) into the analysis. The joint work in chronic disease management emerges from Teva’s existing alliance with IBM as a Foundational Life Sciences Partner for the IBM Watson Health Cloud.

This expansion was revealed in conjunction with a presentation on the main stage at the World of Watson conference by Yitzhak Peterburg, Teva’s chairman of the board of directors, alongside IBM chairman, president and CEO, Ginni Rometty.

“Teva’s products reach 200 million people every day with the world's largest medicine cabinet. We have the opportunity to lead change in the pharmaceutical industry, innovating constantly to meet consumers' evolving needs,” said Peterburg.

“By combining the skills of our partners, such as Watson's cognitive computing capabilities, with Teva's pharmaceutical expertise, we can create novel solutions and deliver real value to people.”

Deborah DiSanzo, general manager for IBM Watson Health, said: “Working together, Teva and IBM create an unprecedented opportunity to help doctors and patients worldwide achieve the promise of personalized healthcare.

“IBM and Teva’s announcements today are notable for two reasons. First, IBM’s work with Teva extends from the biopharmaceutical research bench to an individual’s medicine cabinet -- underscoring the power of Watson cognitive computing across life sciences and healthcare.

"Second, this work includes the first integration of data from The Weather Company with the Watson Health Cloud, a milestone and demonstrable of how the definition of ‘health data’ is evolving.”