Cerba and Taliaz to Leverage Artificial Intelligence and Genetics Expertise to Improve Patient Care Management in Depression

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cerba, the foremost specialty clinical pathology reference, and Taliaz, an Israeli digital health company dedicated to improving mental health disorders, announced today a partnership to provide physicians with an AI-driven precision psychiatry solution that predicts treatment effectiveness in depression. By finding the right treatment from the very first prescription, the test helps physicians make the best therapeutic decision faster for their patients and can accelerate recovery of the 280 million people suffering from depression globally.

Today, 5% of the world’s adult population suffer from depression, one of the most common mental health disorders, according to the World Health Organization (1). The correct medical prescription of antidepressant compounds has become a critical issue in patient management as a lack of response or remission occurs in 20-30% of patients with a severe depressive episode (2). In France alone, 1 in 4 people struggle with mental health disorders, and 1 in 5 people suffer from depression.

To face this challenge, Cerba and Taliaz have joined forces to provide clinicians with a new clinical test that predicts the effectiveness of antidepressant treatments: PREDICTIX, developed by Taliaz, harnesses a biological test coupled with artificial intelligence to guide the management of depressed patients by presenting the medication with the best chance of therapeutic success the first time. Designed as a clinical decision support tool, the solution brings AI-driven precision psychiatry to the next level and is expected to improve care for millions of patients globally. It should be available for patients by January 2023 throughout the Cerba HealthCare clinical routine pathology network in France and abroad.

The PREDICTIX test uses AI to analyse multiple streams of patients’ data, including genetic, metabolic, demographic and clinical information. Doctors receive a personalized patient report that predicts and ranks the statistical efficacy, dosage and potential side effects of various antidepressant medications based on each patient’s pharmacogenetic makeup and health record. Clinical research demonstrated a response rate of 72.2 % and real-world data showed 90 % of patients experienced clinical improvement after 8 weeks according to the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) Scale, a useful tool for clinicians and patients used in clinical practice (3).

Jérôme Sallette, Chief Scientific Officer at Cerba HealthCare comments: “With the introduction of PREDICTIX, we are entering a new age of precision medicine in psychiatry: empowering physicians to make the best therapeutic decision faster and reducing the burden of depression for patients and healthcare systems. Cerba is again at the forefront of innovation for enlightening diagnosis, improving patient health management and facilitating the right prescription at the right time for the right patient.”

Dekel Taliaz, CEO and Co-founder of Taliaz, said, “We are delighted to sign this landmark agreement with Cerba HealthCare to help advance our mental health technology. Their scientific culture and extensive network will expand market entry for PREDICTIX towards global outreach. By leveraging the power of big data and AI in easy-to-use and time saving clinician tools, we are committed to bringing safe and efficient solutions to accelerate recovery and reduce suffering of patients with mental illness worldwide.”

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1 World Health Organisation, https://www.who.int/fr/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression, September 2021
2 National Institute of Mental Health, Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) Study
3 Saudreau, B., et. al. (2022). Impact of a Personalized Antidepressant Prescription Using Genetics, Socio-Demographic and Clinical Data in Major Depressive Disorder Patients: A Clinical Pilot Study. Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics, 122(1), 122–130. https://doi.org/10.31488/jpp.105

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