Press release

Best in Class Virtual Coach to Benefit the Lives of Patients Affected by Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Co-funded by the EU, an international partnership with Danish and Austrian experts will develop a new generation of digital healthcare tools using context-aware algorithm-driven platforms designed to help patients self-manage their chronic autoimmune disease and further improve collaboration between patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs).

Affecting 3M patients in the EU and 17.6M worldwide Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) imposes a high burden on both societies and healthcare sectors. Digital health technology, as adjunct to traditional care, provides a significant opportunity to deliver continuous, cost-effective and timely support to patients supporting behavioral changes, improving quality of life for individuals and optimizing their personalized treatment.

Previous surveys suggest that 86% of RA-patients agree that self-management apps can be very useful but studies show a lack of high-quality, scientifically validated digital healthcare tools.

Joining forces and expertise in a 3-year project Daman P/S (DK) and the Parker Institute at Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg (DK) together with DWH GmbH (AT) and Medizinische Universität Wien (AT) will transform already market leader RheumaBuddy app into a next generation platform using artificial intelligence (AI) to benefit all stakeholders in the rheumatology care eco-system including patients, healthcare professionals, patient organizations, payers and the pharma industry.

“Data is crucial in these days and times, but even more relevant is what we build based on that data. Indisputably patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis need to benefit even further in the transformation from medical value to patient value. Working with leading international experts and patients to advance RheumaBuddy and improve quality of life for those living with RA is highly encouraging,” says Andreas Dam, CEO at Daman, the owner of RheumaBuddy used already by 12,000+ patients in Europe.

“For RA patients, it is not only about coping with the fatigue and physical pain associated with their condition. There are also psychological implications due to the chronic nature of the disease”, says Tanja Stamm, Professor and Head of the Institute for Outcomes Research at the Medical University of Vienna. “A digital app solution based on patient-reported outcomes can help to gather real-time feedback from patients and help them to better cope with their condition”.

“Linking data to create not treatment snapshots, but medical information with patient values is key for analyzing real patient pathways. As State-of-the-Art AI methods allow evaluation of those multi-dimensional data within a multi-criteria decision setting, the prediction of patient outcomes to create an alert and recommendation systems for patients is a further step in enhancing quality of life for RA patients,” says CSO and co-founder at DWH GmbH, Niki Popper.

“It is a great opportunity, and wonderful to receive this acknowledgement from the EU. I look forward to participating in this great consortium with a project that will create the evidence foundation we need to proceed the endeavour of optimizing patient value and unmet need in the ecosystem surrounding the patient.“ says MD, PhD and CSO at the Parker Institute, Lars Erik Kristensen, on the potential of RB 4.0 regarding value-based healthcare, patient outcomes and the role clinical trials will play.

The RB 4.0 Consortium

The RB 4.0 project

Launched in 2014 and used by 12,000+ patients in 32 countries RheumaBuddy is a market leader application for patients suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The RB 4.0 project will develop context-aware algorithm- driven platforms designed to help patients self-manage their disease and transform RheumaBuddy to a platform, benefiting all stakeholders in the rheumatology care eco-system: patients, healthcare professionals, patient organizations, payers and pharmaceutical companies enabling a holistic approach supporting the importance of co-creation for true patient value and improved quality of life.

The RB 4.0 project will be evaluated in a randomized clinical trial conducted at the Parker Institute in Copenhagen in collaboration with the division of rheumatology of the Medical University of Vienna.

The EU Eurostars programme will co-fund the 3-year RB 4.0 project with approx. 1M EUR. The consortium partners will fund the remaining 270K EUR.

For further information please contact

  • Tanja Stamm, University Professor, Dr., Head of Section for Outcomes Research, Medizinische Universität Wien: +43 1 40400 16370 or tanja.stamm@meduniwien.ac.at