SENS.L Regulatory News (SENS)

Sensyne Health and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Sign Strategic Research Agreement

Research will focus on CUH's areas of disease expertise and specialism in cancer, cardiovascular disease and rare diseases

New agreement covers 3 million patient records and brings the combined total of de-identified patient data directly accessible for medical research to 25.5 million patients

Oxford, U.K., 3rd December 2021: Sensyne Health plc (LSE: SENS) ("Sensyne" or the "Company"), the ethical Clinical AI company, today announces that it has signed a five-year, non-exclusive Strategic Research Agreement ("SRA") with Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ("CUH" or the "Trust"). The agreement will enable the ethical application of clinical AI research by analysing de-identified patient records in order to carry out research with the potential of providing new understanding and treatments for various diseases.

The partnership will cover research across the Trust's areas of disease expertise and specialism in cancer, cardiovascular disease, and rare diseases.  These are vital areas of research which CUH wants to support to provide equitable access to diagnosis and treatment for its patient population, while also helping address future national and international health challenges.

Cancer research will be a key focus of the strategic research partnership and Sensyne will use its expertise to analyse cancer patient pathways to reduce patient waiting times and improve patient care. Additionally, under the SRA, Sensyne and CUH will focus on the following areas:

· Clinical decision tools to support patient care, by developing and validating the effectiveness of new AI-enabled software tools to help clinicians analyse complex data sets to improve clinical decision making;

· The use of AI for the analysis of retrospective clinical data, and the generation of synthetic control arms to support clinical trials more effectively, accelerating the process of drug development for patients; and

· Drug discovery, by helping to discover new medicines aimed at treating rare as well as common diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancers.

The CUH dataset covers three million unique patient records, with approximately one million patient contacts per year from a patient population of approximately five million people. This new Strategic Research Agreement takes the number of Sensyne's SRAs with NHS Trusts and US health systems to sixteen, and brings the combined total of de-identified patient data directly accessible for medical research to 25.5 million patients (12.1million in UK and 13.4 million patients in the US[1]).

Dr Ashley Shaw, CUH Medical Director, said: "At CUH we use a wide range of research to constantly improve the lives of patients both locally and around the world. Sitting at the heart of Europe's biggest life sciences campus, alongside some of the world's most pre-eminent academics and industrial partners, we know the power of collaborations to bring about discoveries that will benefit us all. By searching large de-identified datasets, machine learning tools can spot patterns which are otherwise indiscernible, shedding light on causes of disease and opening up new treatment opportunities."

Lord (Paul) Drayson PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Sensyne Health, said:

"Sensyne is delighted to be working with Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a leading national centre for the treatment of rare or complex conditions and a university teaching hospital with a worldwide reputation. Cambridge University Hospitals is also recognised as a leader in the use of digital tools and health data to improve patient care and has built a large, high quality data set as a result. The Trust has invested heavily in its digital infrastructure and the curation of its data which means we can start work immediately. Together we aim to use the power of ethical AI to make a real difference in finding new and better ways to treat cancer and other complex diseases."

Strategic Research Agreement details

This new SRA provides non-exclusive access to 3 million longitudinal de-identified patient records for analysis by Sensyne using its expertise in clinical AI. Research will be undertaken to the highest standards of information governance and data security in accordance with NHS principles, the UK Government Code of Practice, and data protection legislation. All data accessed by Sensyne will be de-identified by CUH beforehand and the provision of the data will operate under an agreed Data Processing Protocol ("DPP") under CUH governance oversight. CUH patient data is stored securely within CUH's Digital Research Environment, a research platform supported by the Epic electronic health record ("EHR") software which will facilitate safe, efficient data processing by Sensyne and enable rapid transfer of data and early commencement of research.

The Trust will receive 4,285,714 ordinary shares in Sensyne Health plc representing 2.6% of the existing issued share capital of Sensyne. This brings the total share ownership held by NHS Trusts in Sensyne to 16.2% (as enlarged by the expected issue of shares to CUH, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and Wye Valley NHS Trust).

CUH will also receive from Sensyne an investment of up to £350,000 per year over the five-year term of the contract for specific ongoing investments in information technology to enable the ethical curation and analysis of de-identified data under the SRA. The Trust will receive a royalty on revenues that are generated by Sensyne from the research undertaken under the SRA. The financial return CUH receives from Sensyne will be reinvested back into the NHS to enhance patient care. The Trust has entered into a lock-up agreement whereby it has agreed not to dispose of any shares for a period of two years from the date the shares are issued.

The issue of new ordinary shares in Sensyne Health to CUH, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and Wye Valley NHS Trust remains subject to receipt of a s593 valuation report by the Company. Further announcements will be made in due course once the shares have been allotted and expected to be admitted to trading on AIM.

-ENDS-

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About Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ("CUH") is one of the largest and best-known trusts in the country, delivering high-quality patient care through Addenbrooke's and the Rosie Hospitals. CUH is a leading national centre for specialist treatment for rare or complex conditions and a university teaching hospital with a worldwide reputation.

CUH is a key partner in Cambridge University Health Partners ("CUHP"), one of only six academic health science centres in the UK and is at the heart of the development of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus ("CBC"), which brings together on one site world-class biomedical research, patient care and education. The Campus is one of the Government's National Institute for Health Research ("NIHR") comprehensive biomedical research centres.

About Sensyne Health www.sensynehealth.com 

Sensyne Health plc (LSE: SENS) is a leading clinical artificial intelligence company operating a unique business model - a for-profit plc making a positive social impact, sharing the financial returns it makes with health systems. The Company applies clinical AI in the healthcare and life science industries. In healthcare, Sensyne delivers remote patient monitoring and real-time decision-making systems for healthcare organisations and their patients. In life sciences, Sensyne analyses large complex anonymised data sets to help life sciences companies accelerate the development of new medicines.