“The influx of data in healthcare is clear, but possessing data does not automatically guarantee meaningful results.” This remark by Andreas Kremer, co-founder and Managing Director of Information Technology for Translational Medicine (ITTM), encapsulates a crux of the modern healthcare challenge: how to use the large quantity of data available to make informed decisions that improve patient well-being.
ITTM specialises in data management, data sharing and data optimisation for pre-clinical and clinical trials.
With over a decade’s experience in the pharmaceutical industry merged with his healthtech background, Dr Kremer advocates the cause of using data to drive meaningful decisions and innovations in healthcare. ITTM is a spin-off from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine and specialises in data management, data sharing and data optimisation for pre-clinical and clinical trials. ITTM’s services include data curation, analysis, integration, and visualisation, primarily targeting the life sciences and healthcare sector.
Unlocking the essence of data through partnerships
One of ITTM’s key ICT partners in Luxembourg is the European Business Reliance Centre, which provides a data centre, cloud computing and other IT management services to help companies in different sectors better prepare for efficient operations in a digital economy.
“Secure data management in the banking sector in Luxembourg is robust and we use the same infrastructure for healthcare. If you trust your money in Luxembourg, you can also trust your health care data in Luxembourg. The EBRC partnership is a unique example that we’ve set up from the very beginning,” Dr Kremer states.
If you trust your money in Luxembourg, you can also trust your health care data in Luxembourg.
ITTM’s approach involves actively collaborating with clients to unlock data’s essence. “One of the sayings I’ve been using for some time now is ‘making data actionable’. You can have a data point, but the question is: what can you do with it? Your data point should immediately bring you to the next level to make an informed decision,” Dr. Kremer points out.
Capturing longitudinal real-world data
The company recently collaborated with the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) on a real-world data project involving the cancer registry. Using real-world data in healthcare is a notion that Dr Kremer pushes forward. This refers to information gathered from various sources that reflect realities in health patterns, as opposed to working with simulated or synthetic data. These sources can be electronic health records, patient-reported outcomes, patient-generated data, data from machines and sensors, diagnostic tests, doctors’ prescriptions and others.
“Healthcare data is often scattered across various information silos. Having lived in seven countries so far, I have experienced that getting my healthcare data from England or Italy into Luxembourg is quite a complex, sometimes even impossible process due to so many barriers in-between. We can use existing technology in a smart way to make sure, that data is being used for the purpose they are being generated for, which at the end of the day is the citizens,” Dr. Kremer continues.
We can use existing technology in a smart way to make sure, that data is being used for the purpose they are being generated for.
In collaboration with the LIH, the Luxembourg node of the Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OMOP) was launched this year. OMOP is a common data model or standard, developed by the multistakeholder programme known as the Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI), that promotes consistent data capturing across institutions. “We were among the first SMEs in Europe who got certified for transitioning into this model, building it up step by step. Our goal is to enhance data usage, enabling analysis in a coordinated, secure manner without centralising it.”
We like to think of ourselves as Luxembourg ambassadors, as we’ve been working to show innovation made in Luxembourg on a European scale.
ITTM’s journey in health tech innovation has also garnered recognition beyond Luxembourg’s borders. The company has received funds totalling approximately €6 million in European grant funding and aims to collaborate with other European partners to increase data exchange and usage.
“We like to think of ourselves as Luxembourg ambassadors, as we’ve been working to show innovation made in Luxembourg on a European scale.”
Photo credit: ITTM