Lupin Digital Health leveraging AI/ML to reduce heart attack risks

Lupin Digital Health (LDH), a fully owned subsidiary of Lupin Limited, a home-grown multinational pharmaceutical company, has recently launched Lyfe, a ground-breaking digital therapeutics solution designed to monitor and manage Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) patients using advanced technologies. Lyfe uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to provide personalised patient experiences, and the intuitive mobile application is available on both iOS and Android. In an exclusive interview, Lupin Digital Health CEO Sidharth Srinivasan tells Bizz Buzz about how the platform can reduce the risk of heart attack and improve the quality of life for cardiac patients

What are the digital health offerings the company has at present in the Indian market?

LDH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lupin, has recently unveiled its digital therapeutics platform – Lyfe. This is India’s only evidence-based holistic heart care programme, which significantly reduces the risk of a heart attack as well as improves vitals and quality of life for cardiac patients.

One of the primary reasons for venturing into a digital therapeutics solution like Lyfe stemmed from the fact that India has become the chronic disease capital of the world. India accounts for around 25 to 30 per cent of the global cardiovascular disease burden and 45 per cent of deaths in the 40–69-year age group (according to WHO data).

Patients with chronic cardiovascular diseases experience high levels of uncertainty and require significant care and monitoring in their treatment regimen. In the last 10-15 years, we've seen that these sort of non-communicable diseases, especially chronic diseases, are the ones which are actually causing the most number of deaths in India.

A lot of notions that we have about cardiac disease may not necessarily be correct. We might think it's a rich man's disease, however, in reality, the mortality is equally high across all the income groups. It is equally common in women as men, although 75 per cent of all people who get treated are men, which means women are severely undertreated for chronic diseases.

We think of it as an older person's illness, whereas 25 per cent of all heart attacks now occur among people below the age of 50. I think chronic disease is very common in India. The other hard truth that we evidenced during Covid-19 was that India's health infrastructure is already overburdened. We have the world's finest doctors, but not enough of them.

If we take the example of heart disease, India has only 5,500 to 6,000 interventional cardiologists for a population of 1.3 billion. It's one of the lowest ratios in the world. The quality of these resources is extremely good. But, their reach is very limited. The pandemic led to an increased acceptance of digital technology amongst both doctors and patients, alike.

Through our digital therapeutics platform Lyfe, we are leveraging the power of human intelligence and AI/ML to improve patient outcomes by enhancing doctor-patient collaboration, constantly monitoring health vitals, amplifying patient awareness, and improving therapy adherence.

How is Lyfe helping the cardiac patients in Hyderabad?

Lyfe has the potential to revolutionise healthcare in India by improving outcomes, reducing rehospitalisation and making healthcare more convenient. This platform helps cardiologists to offer better and continuous care to their ACS patients. The customers have to download the Lyfe application on their smartphones.

Lyfe is a subscription-based heart care programme with an annual fee starting from Rs 6,000. Depending on the nature of customised care opted by the patients, the fee will go up to Rs 25,000 per annum. This platform had received `No Objection’ from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health.

The cardiac patients can manage their vitals, medication adherence, connect with health coaches and doctors, and even access ambulance services in case of an emergency. By leveraging digital therapeutics, LDH aims to reduce the burden on the healthcare system and improve patient outcomes in Hyderabad.

Statistics show that Hyderabad has been at the forefront of innovative treatments and techniques in cardiology. Among the 5,500 cardiologists in India, more than 75 have already recommended Lyfe to their ACS patients, and with Hyderabad accounting for the highest number of cathlabs, we see this number growing in the future.

How is the acceptance of this digital health care programme across the country?

We are planning to cover all major cities in the next few months. So far, we have reached out to cardiologists in 21 cities and we will cover 80 per cent of them by September. More than 400 heart specialists have signed up with us to suggest the Lyfe care programme to their patients and 60 per cent of them have already recommended it to their patients.

If we had tried to launch this heart care programme maybe 3-4 years back, we would have struggled because the acceptance wasn't there, but post-Covid the acceptance of digital health is definitely there. Digital therapeutics gives a comprehensive report on the patient’s condition enabling them in taking a well informed decision.

Together, these three factors - high incidence of chronic diseases, healthcare infrastructure being limited and increasing acceptance of digital technology – made us realise that a digital approach which can supplement, not substitute, the existing standard of care would definitely be beneficial to make overall healthcare accessible and affordable.

What are other products or services under LDH in the offing?

Digital therapeutics is a combination of four things – interconnected medical devices for monitoring; a platform/application to be able to collate data; AI algorithms that enable to analyse patterns of the patient behaviour and try to predict what might happen in future; and human intervention, i.e., highly trained medics who know how to deal with high-risk patients.

So, these are the four elements that we consider for addressing a problem statement. For instance, more than five lakh patients get an angioplasty done every year and these patients who undergo angioplasty are recommended a cardiac rehab to manage their condition better to improve their health.

LDH has created cardiac rehab protocol in an offline or in a hybrid digital form that is offered to patients. Next, we are going to be focusing on heart failure as an area. Lupin has a very strong equity in the overall chronic disease space and therefore we believe that's an area where we can add value.

What is the market size of digital therapeutics in India? What is the target of the company?

According to industry reports, the digital health market in India is valued around $2 billion (Rs 16,423 crore) today and it will further grow anywhere between 20-30 per cent CAGR. Overall cardiovascular market is Rs 36,000 crore in India. So, it's a $6 billion (Rs 50,000-crore) industry and the digital will definitely play some form of complementary role in the cardiac treatment. India is a unique country where we are very well adapted to technology. And therefore, it can amplify the reach of our healthcare professionals using technology.

How are you promoting this programme? Are you working with the cardiologists or directly approaching the patients?

Designed by leading Indian cardiologists, Lyfe helps patients improve their heart health through doctor-connected online and offline modules. The USFDA (Food & Drug Administration) and (European conformity) CE-approved wearable devices record vital parameters and notify caregivers and doctors about off-range vitals and emergencies.

A simple and intuitive interface offers medication reminders, round-the-clock emergency and ambulance assistance. In addition, the programme provides expert intervention through dedicated care managers, health coaches and nutritionists. It is an end-to-end solution for cardiac patients, in accordance with protocols designed by their treating cardiologists.

I firmly believe that after information technology (IT), health tech is another aspect where India can serve the world right because of our expertise, cost-advantage and highly talented resource pool. The same procedure or the same post-operative care, which costs thousands of dollars in the US, can be delivered in a few thousands of rupees over here.

So, while running a profitable business, you can still deliver a much better health outcome as well as a lot of cost saving. In the next 5-10 years, India will be proud of these innovations we are bringing, we are not only serving our own people, but maybe we also end up delivering better health outcomes and more importantly better quality of life to the patients across the world.