Naru wins Roche Farma Spain Startup Creasphere Award

BHH member Naru and its technological tool Step Oncology have won the first prize of Startup Creasphere promoted by BHH member Roche Farma Spain in the category of hepatocarcinoma. This award highlights Naru's commitment to innovation and new technologies with the aim of improving the healthcare system.

Startup Creasphere is a global innovation initiative driven by Roche Farma Spain. This year, developed in collaboration with Plug and Play, its aim was to attract, recognize and promote innovative and disruptive initiatives developed by startups and hospitals to improve the health and quality of life of patients. As highlighted by Roche Farma Spain in the statement, Naru received the award for its technology tool Step Oncology "an artificial intelligence (AI) that reduces serious complications in cancer patients and aims to improve quality of life after hospitalization. The tool ensures data collection and valuable information" without hospitals losing control and ownership of the data.

In addition to the company Naru, two other projects have been awarded. The UK company Novai received the award in the ophthalmology category for the development of a biomarker based on artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the progression of glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In the hospital setting, the winning initiative was NaIA DMAE, from the Hospital Universitario de Navarra, an AI tool that automatically detects and measures retinal fluid in patients with AMD and diabetic macular edema (DME).

Naru, an established company with a new visual identity

This recognition coincides with the recent launch of its new visual identity. As explained by its founders, Eider Sanchez, CEO of Naru and Maider Alberich, CTO of Naru, this new step forward in the company's evolution reflects the dynamism and transformation driving its work in oncology and biomedicine. The new tagline Healthcare, the smarter the better reflects its commitment to innovation and its vision of a smarter, more efficient and patient-centric healthcare system.

Naru transforms clinical data management for use in different areas of the therapeutic value chain. It is the only validated solution in Europe that generates Real World Evidence (RWE) in real time and combines PROs (Patient Reported Outcomes) and HIS (Hospital Information System) to empower strategic decision making. Thanks to its proprietary Aiatech technology and Step Oncology technology tool, this new care environment contributes to the improvement and optimization of clinical practice, research and patient life.

Since they founded the project in 2017, the company has not stopped growing and evolving. To date, the company adds up to more than 26 initiatives in 4 countries in different public and private hospitals (more than 50) and in large pharmaceutical companies and with more than 1 million patient data.

New products to accelerate knowledge

With a focus on the applicability of its solutions in different contexts, Naru continues to work on new formats of its technological tool Step Oncology. They are currently involved in two clinical trials with the research and pharmaceutical sector in order to obtain patient data in a simple and agile way to generate a direct impact on the acceleration of knowledge about cancer treatment.

Unlike other solutions that require complex integrations with hospital IT systems, the new version of the Step Oncology tool connects directly with the institutions that manage clinical trials and treatments. Patients can easily report symptoms, adverse effects of treatments and their health status without having to travel to hospitals and from their own cell phone. The app not only makes life easier for the patient, it also allows healthcare professionals to get a more complete and constant overview of how each person is progressing between medical visits. Especially in the case of oncology patients, where treatments can have highly variable effects, this type of monitoring is key to adjusting care and attention precisely. In addition, the information provided by patients is protected, preserving complete privacy and guaranteeing the confidentiality of medical data.