CRO

More than just talk: Medidata partners with speech tech firm Aural Analytics

Medidata has become the latest trial tech firm to team with speech collection and analysis software developer Aural Analytics to add speech biomarkers to its drug research offering. 

The partnership—financial terms of which were not provided—will integrate Aural’s Speech Vitals technology into Medidata’s cloud analytics network. The tech will be used in all studies where speech may be relevant, such as in neurodegenerative, neuropsych and other areas, an Aural spokesman told Fierce Biotech. Aural is also exploring digital biomarker development projects that Medidata may later use.

The deal comes just a month after Novartis and Merck-backed Koneksa Health forged a similar alliance with the speech tech firm. Aural also has a partnership with decentralized trial technology firm Medable. That accord, which was signed last summer as part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)-backed “cancer moonshot” project, is focused on using speech collection and analytical tools with other digital biomarkers to monitor cancer patients in trials.

Aural’s technology is designed to measure the impact that neurodegenerative, neuropsychiatric and other conditions have on speech. The firm claims its metrics have demonstrated repeatability in clinical trials across 15 conditions.

Earlier this month, the tech gained U.S. government backing when the NIH awarded Aural a $1.4 million grant to support development of a tool for speech-language pathologists. These researchers are trained to perceive, describe and rate aspects of speech that are not often thought about.

Speaking at the time, CEO Judy Smythe framed the grant as evidence of growing recognition of the utility of speech analysis in research and clinical drug development.