Astellas Pharma and Eko Health have signed a licence and supply agreement for the latter’s CORE 500 digital stethoscope and artificial intelligence-driven cardiovascular disease detection software suite.

Astellas will work with Welldoc for integrating Eko’s technology with the cardiometabolic digital therapeutic (DTx) capabilities of Welldoc to develop a non-invasive device-DTx solution for heart failure patients. The solution is presently called Z1608.

Astellas aims to seek clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Z1608.

The company aims to explore the potential of Z1608 in future studies for remote monitoring of vital physiological biomarkers linked to heart failure to know whether this approach can decrease the occurrence of acute decompensation events in heart failure patients.

It also plans to provide automated coaching based on various health data points, including medication adherence, diet and activity.

Approved by the FDA, the Eko CORE 500 cardiac assessment tool leverages a three-lead ECG and an electronic stethoscope for capturing physiological data.

This data will be processed by Eko’s algorithms for detecting specific elements of cardiovascular dysfunction and function.

Astellas chief strategy officer Adam Pearson said: “We hope that we can deliver new value to patients with heart failure by combining Eko and Welldoc’s products to create and commercialise an innovative solution, Z1608.”