Novartis partners with Monash University and Monash Health in cardiovascular disease

Pharma News: Coinciding with Heart Week, Monash University, Monash Health and Novartis announced a unique partnership in the fight against cardiovascular disease – Australia’s most significant health challenge responsible for 1 in 4 deaths and claiming an Australian life every 12 minutes.

Building upon last year’s collaboration between Novartis, Monash University, and Telstra Health, which piloted a new care model for improving cardiovascular health, this expanded alliance merges the strengths of academia, public health networks, and industry. Together, they will work collaboratively to deliver education, innovation and clinical trials that can respond quickly to sector need.

The primary focus of this strategic collaboration lies in digital health infrastructure. Through grant funding, the partnership will establish the Coronary Heart Disease and Heart Failure analytics-driven ‘Living Lab’. This initiative aims to harness clinical data to develop tools such as visual dashboards, facilitating the identification of care opportunities and risk management strategies. These tools will support clinicians in making real-time decisions regarding lipid management and heart failure.

Professor Stephen Nicholls, Program Director of Monash Health’s Victorian Heart Hospital and Director of Monash University’s Victorian Heart Institute, emphasised the increasing complexity and costs associated with managing heart conditions as patients live longer lives.

A new model of care for heart disease: Leaders from Monash Uni and Novartis talk the joint approach to innovation

“Despite having more therapies available, almost half of the patients who have had a cardiovascular event aren’t reaching their cholesterol targets, and heart failure remains the second highest cause for unplanned hospital readmission in Victoria. The reasons for this are often nuanced,” he said.

Professor Derek Chew, Service Director of Monash Health’s Victorian Heart Hospital and Director of Health Informatics Research at Monash University’s Victorian Heart Institute, underscored the significance of a data-driven approach to care.

“There’s a significant opportunity to improve patient outcomes if we develop the tools to unlock the insights a data-driven approach to care can provide, he stated. “At the core of our partnership is the power of real-world clinical level data. Utilising this effectively at a variety of clinical touch points – general practice vs emergency departments and general medicine in-patient units – is key to enhancing optimal management of patients. It’s exciting that through innovative partnerships we can make complex information more accessible and readily translatable into action.”

Professor Nicholls expressed optimism regarding the potential impact of this initiative, saying “This initiative may not only help save lives but also has the potential to reduce burden heart disease has on our communities and healthcare costs. This may be a pilot in Victoria, but it has scope to be rolled out nation-wide.”

Commenting on the partnership, Matt Zeller, Country President, Novartis Australia and New Zealand said, “As we tackle the burden of cardiovascular disease, we must work together to advance research, innovate using data and analytics, and build new models of clinical decision making and patient care.”

Zeller further added, “We are proud to be collaborating with Monash University and Monash Health. Their unique model of care and pursuit of the use of advanced analytics will hopefully create real-time feedback loops that can give us better visibility not just of the burden of CVD but also what solutions are, and are not, working for patients. We hope that by working together with all stakeholders across the ecosystem we can help to advance tangible improvements for Australian patients now and in the future.”

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