The Berlin healthtech startup Mika and the AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo alliance are cooperating to improve breast cancer treatment. The Mika app supports patients with daily symptom monitoring, psychology-driven coaching courses and AI-supported, personalised recommendations. This allows patients to actively participate in their treatment and experience a greater quality of life once more. The pilot project has been running in Switzerland since April 2024 and is supported by the EUROPA DONNA Schweiz organisation and the Swiss Cancer League. Mika will also be used in combination with therapy in various Swiss hospitals.
Mika is an evidence-based digital therapeutic, which has already assisted more than 100,000 people with cancer in Germany and the United Kingdom and optimised their treatment. As a validated cancer treatment platform, it is certified as a class IIa medical device according to the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR). In a pilot phase, the app was first used in selected hospitals in German-speaking Switzerland. The intention is to expand the project at a later date and, in the mid-term, to also include the French- and Italian-speaking regions of Switzerland. The app will ultimately also be able to be used in other therapeutic areas in the future.
Using scientifically tested methods and techniques of therapy management in combination with innovative machine learning technologies, Mika enables people with cancer to have a greater quality of life and promotes the best-possible therapeutic outcomes. The app offers comprehensive information on topics such as nutrition, exercise, mindfulness and financial matters and acts as a digital therapeutic agent for depressive moods and fatigue. In a randomised clinical trial, depressive mood was reduced by 42 percent and chronic fatigue by 23 percent compared to the control group.1
Cooperation for holistic patient care
The partnership between Mika and the AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo alliance shows how digital solutions and pharmaceutical developments go hand-in-hand to improve patients' lives. Even the name of the pilot project, "UNITE", reinforces how important a coalition of different stakeholders is to the establishment of digital therapeutics. An expert panel helped to optimise Mika for Switzerland. Two patient organisations, EUROPA DONNA Schweiz and the Swiss Cancer League, recommend the tool as part of the service they provide to their members.
Yet we know that even with the great advances made in the treatment of breast cancer in the past 50 years,2 breast cancer remains one of the most common cancers: more than 6000 women in Switzerland receive the diagnosis each year. Men are also affected (around 50 in Switzerland).3
Adam Nosal
Director of Oncology at AstraZeneca Switzerland
Dr. Gandolf Finke
Founder and Managing Director of Mika.
Giuseppe Grossi
Country Manager of Daiichi Sankyo Switzerland
«We are very happy about the collaboration with AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo, » says Dr Gandolf Finke, founder and Managing Director of Mika. «The combination of evidence-based digital support and innovative pharmaceutical research is a huge step in further improving the positive developments in cancer treatment and increasing chances of survival.»
Adam Nosal, Director of Oncology at AstraZeneca Switzerland explains: «Digital therapies are becoming ever more important in modern cancer treatment. The partnership with Mika forms a basis to provide holistic care for people with cancer. The digital results and experiences that the app provides are also important indicators to further improve therapeutic options.»
Giuseppe Grossi, Country Manager of Daiichi Sankyo (Switzerland) explains: «As companies that put the well-being of patients at the centre of everything they do, we are very pleased about the partnership with Mika. In today's digital world, it is becoming ever more important to promote innovative solutions to improve quality of life for people with cancer and also achieve better treatment outcomes in the process. The support of the Mika app is a specific example of the progress that we want to make in cancer treatment and beyond.»
About the Mika app
Mika is an app-based platform aimed at providing people with cancer with targeted and comprehensive support using digital technology. Using scientifically tested methods and techniques of therapy management, the digital therapeutic (DTx) allows patients to actively participate in their treatment and experience a greater quality of life once more.
Furthermore, Mika combines innovative machine learning technologies with a multimedia scientific database of strictly reviewed content, such as nutrition tips, exercises or mindfulness training. The evidence-based content was developed in collaboration with leading oncology research institutions and tumour centres such as Charité Berlin and the University of Leipzig Medical Centre. As a validated cancer treatment platform, Mika is certified as a class IIa medical device according to the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR).
Fosanis, the digital health company behind Mika, was founded in Berlin in 2017 by Dr Gandolf Finke and Dr Jan Simon Raue and in 2022 completed a Series A funding round of more than 10 million euro. Tens of thousands of patients in Germany and the United Kingdom have already used the free DTx platform to support their cancer treatment, and now the team of 50 experts continues to expand its growth in the global healthtech market.
More information: mika.health/en
QR Code to the App:
Media contact
Tel. +41 (0) 41 725 75 75; media.switzerland@astrazeneca.com
Christian Bitschnau, Corporate Affairs Director, AstraZeneca Switzerland
AstraZeneca in Switzerland
AstraZeneca is a British pharmaceutical company that has been operating in Switzerland for almost 50 years. The company is one of the highest revenue pharmaceutical companies in Switzerland and operates in the following therapeutic areas: oncology, respiratory diseases and immunology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic disorders plus vaccines and immunotherapies, which also includes medicines for the control of COVID-19. The primary aim of the over 285 employees is to make new medicines available to affected patients as quickly as possible. In Switzerland, more than 230,000 people are treated with a drug from AstraZeneca. The company expects over 35 new therapies to be authorised by 2026. AstraZeneca has set itself the target of making the Swiss healthcare system more sustainable and more resilient. To make its contribution to a healthy planet and healthy people, the company is working tirelessly to reduce its CO2 emissions and waste. It has therefore set itself the target of becoming CO2-negative by 2030.
Further information about AstraZeneca Switzerland: www.astrazeneca.ch
About Daiichi Sankyo
Daiichi Sankyo is an innovative global healthcare company that contributes to the sustainable development of society. The company researches, develops and delivers new standards in healthcare to improve the quality of life for people worldwide. With more than 120 years of experience, Daiichi Sankyo uses its first-class research and technology to develop new treatment methods and innovative medications for people with cancer, cardiovascular and other diseases that previously have had only inadequate or no treatment options available to them.
References
1 J. Wolff, J. Stupin, J. Olschewski et al (2023): Digital therapeutic to improve cancer-related well-being: a pilot randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer, doi: 10.1136/ijgc-2023-004304
2 https:/www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/state_of_the_nation_april_2019.pdf
3 https://www.krebsliga.ch/ueber-krebs/frueherkennung/brustkrebs
CH/ADC/04/24/0019_04/2024