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Tencent-Linked Health AI Developer Raises $25 Million

Tencent-Linked Health AI Developer Raises $25 Million

(Bloomberg) -- Medopad Ltd., a U.K. artificial intelligence startup teaming with China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. on new approaches to disease, raised $25 million for clinical studies of its health technology.

Leaps by Bayer, an investment arm of Bayer AG, led the series B round, Medopad said in a statement. The London-based firm is focused on finding and using digital indicators of illness to guide treatment of conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.

Tencent partnered with Medopad last year on developing a system to remotely monitor Parkinson’s disease patients, and the companies are now committed to establishing a medical AI lab in China. The British company is also collaborating with partners including Johnson & Johnson on understanding how to use data generated by wearable devices to monitor patients and determine what treatments will work best.

In Parkinson’s disease, for example, Medopad is looking for ways to use AI analysis of patients’ walking and speaking patterns to manage treatment, avoiding frequent trips to doctors’ offices or clinics. The new funds will help with testing applications in heart disease, depression, Parkinson’s and diabetic nerve disease.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Lauerman in London at jlauerman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Marthe Fourcade

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