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12 February 2025

Health Innovation North West Coast's International team is supporting Agora Labs, a leading health-tech startup, to explore: opportunities for its secure clinical data platform and the potential benefits it could bring to the NHS and the broader health and life science ecosystem in the UK.

Agora Labs' expertise aligns with Government's strategy to harness the power of AI to increase efficiencies and innovation across the healthcare sector.

The company was born out of a need to share European health data under GDPR to power healthcare innovation.

It ensures that data remains 'local' and under the full control of the data owner (e.g., clinical centre, NHS Trust, ICS, etc). Thanks to the Agora Labs platform, these centres will be able to structure, standardise, and mathematically anonymise patient information. Only the clinical centre decides what data to make available, to whom, for how long, and for what purpose. The Agora Labs team has no access to the data.

Once data is structured and standardised with Agora Labs' platform, it’s here that the potential of data can be realised, leading to significant opportunities, ranging from supporting clinical research and pharma studies, to training medical AI applications.

Kevin Moreton, Head of International Programmes at Health Innovation North West Coast, said: “NHS data is of tremendous value, both in terms of research and how it can be used for medical AI development and wider commercial collaboration. Agora Labs' technology enables NHS data owners to use the true potential of their data in a secure and controlled environment, which can fast track data governance discussions and make collaboration happen quicker. We’re excited to continue discussions with NHS trusts and other potential support organisations over the coming weeks.”

The Agora Labs platform unlocks the full potential of clinical data by:

  • extracting previously inaccessible information from text, standardising data and applying mathematical anonymisation – this goes beyond current methods of anonymising data, which has been found to have limitations and flaws
  • transforming raw data into high-quality, ready-to-use information assets, enabling external partners to derive meaningful outcomes 
  • ensuring that every data solution seamlessly translates into measurable business value.

Davide Zaccagnini, founder and CEO of Agora Labs, said: “The UK market presents a unique opportunity due to its advanced healthcare infrastructure and focus on innovation. By collaborating with Health Innovation North West Coast, we aim to accelerate the adoption of our cutting-edge technology, driving meaningful advancements in both the public health ecosystem and the UK private sector, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes across the NHS.”

If you are interested in learning more about Agora Labs, please visit its website or contact our International team.

Learn more about how our International team supports overseas companies.

 

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