PharmaShots Interview: Kaia Health's Jonas Duss Shares Insights on COPD Pulmonary Rehabilitation App

In a recent interview with PharmaShots, Jonas Duss, US CEO and Co-Founder at Kaia Health shared his views on the Kaia Health's COPD Pulmonary Rehabilitation App and their collaboration with Chiesi Group to commercialize the app in EU.

Shots:

Kaia Health signs an exclusive agreement with Chiesi Group to commercialize the Kaia Health COPD Pulmonary Rehabilitation app in the EU
The app is CE marked in the EU as a Class 1 medical device and has been investigated in one pilot trial and is the subject of an ongoing randomized control trial in the EU
The Kaia COPD solution consists of a mobile app and an interface for motivational support that aims to deliver a personalized pulmonary rehabilitation experience through education, daily training sessions, and stress relief exercises, boosted with human coaching support and individualized therapy

Tuba: Please share the specifications of the Kaia Health Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Pulmonary Rehabilitation app with our readers?

Kaia Health

Jonas: The Kaia COPD solution consists of a mobile app-based software program and an interface for motivational support that can be delivered by a provider such as health coaches or healthcare professionals. It digitises and delivers affordable, accessible, physical Pulmonary Rehabilitation (an essential component of COPD treatment) - directly to patients' homes on their smartphone. The Kaia Health COPD app delivers comprehensive education and customised daily training sessions, along with mindfulness and stress relief exercises, augmented with human coaching support and individualised therapy. The Kaia COPD solution has been investigated in one pilot trial and is currently the subject of an ongoing RCT in Europe. The Kaia Health COPD app is CE Marked in Europe as a Class 1 medical device.

Tuba: Can we have a glance at Kaia's partnership with the Chiesi group? How this partnership will improve the QoL of patients living with COPD?

Jonas: Currently, only very few COPD patients get access to pulmonary rehabilitation, as in many countries the main access to this therapy is via the inpatient setting, which is very limited due to the high costs. In some countries the range of yearly available slots lies somewhere between only 0.5%-1% of all COPD patients. What we try to do is complement the traditional offering with something more scalable, so that more patients can get access to a sustainable way to self-manage their condition. The partnership with Chiesi will allow us to do so in close collaboration with the stakeholders of the existing healthcare system: prescribers, payers and regulators.

Tuba: What would be a key feature of Kaia's COPD App?

Jonas: There is no one key feature we would mention as the strength of Kaia COPD is that it incorporates a multimodal approach, with each of the modules (self-management education, mindfulness and physical activity) being similarly important and multiplying the effectiveness of the therapy when used in combination with other modules.

Tuba: Could you share the clinical evidence supporting Kaia's COPD solution?

Jonas: A first pilot study was published in 2018. Details here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6260122/

A larger, randomized controlled trial is currently underway, details can be found here: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04299165

Tuba: Please showcase the different digital programs of Kaia targeting other indications except for COPD.

Jonas:

Kaia MSK, targeting the full musculoskeletal spectrum (hip and knee, back, shoulder and neck pain)
Kaia COPD

Tuba: What next, we can expect in terms of digital therapies?

Jonas: We will double down on our core competencies and continue to commercialize our solutions in a way that leverages the existing pathways in our healthcare system.

Tuba: Are you looking for more collaborations to expand the reach of the COPD app across the globe?

Jonas: We are open and actively pursuing more collaborations that are compatible with our existing partners.

Tuba: Would you like to share something specific about your company's growth with our readers/subscribers?

Jonas: More than 450,000 users have used Kaia up to date.

Image Source: Medical News Today

About Author:

Jonas Duss is the US CEO and Co-Founder at Kaia Health. He focusses on the US health plan, employer market, developing international market access and go-to-market strategies with pharma & med. tech.