Mumbai start-up Qure.ai leads global automated TB screening; develops AI diagnosing tools for lung cancer, heart diseases

Of the three computer-aided detection software that have been evaluated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for its effectiveness in diagnosing tuberculosis through automated screening of chest X-rays, one is developed by a Mumbai based startup Qure.ai.

The acceptance of Qure’s AI-tool for TB screening is evident from its presence in over 100 countries, enabling the company to claim it to be the World’s most adopted and trusted healthcare AI, a major achievement for a 10-year old company.

In an exclusive interaction with Fortune India, Prashant Warier, co-founder and CEO of Qure.ai said the company’s goal from Day 1 is to touch the lives of 1 billion patients, of which it has already impacted 45 million people."

qXR, Qure.ai’s flagship AI solution, automates the interpretation of chest X-rays within 20 seconds, detecting multiple findings across lungs, pleura, mediastinum, heart, diaphragm, and bones.

“There are national TB programmes that run on Qure platform. Countries like Kenya, Mozambique, Philippines, etc all use this. The WHO, in its TB guideline, talks about AI, when they also mention Qure. And they say you should use AI for X-ray interpretation”, Warier said.

Qure, which started off with an image screening tool for TB has since expanded to diagnosis of lung cancer, heart failure COPD, etc. From image screening, its products offer more holistic diagnostic support too. “Imaging is just one part of the story. If I need to understand the patient more, there is lot more data in the patient’s medical record. It is text mostly, and some pathology reports, We want to combine everything to understand what patient benefits from, and then we do end- to-end diagnostic support, for doctors and hospitals in managing the patient end-to-end," Warier says.

The company has voice agents that are able to listen to the patient conversation. “We have a product called AIRA, which is like when a healthcare worker and patient is having conversation, it automatically takes notes, and gives recommendations”, Warier explains.

Qure’s detection tool has 36 US FDA clearances for various applications. Half of its revenues come from TB diagnosis, while the other half from developed countries for AI-applications to diagnosis other illnesses. “We have cancer, heart failures, COPD tools for the US, and we have TB for rest of the world, and both are equally big. And then we are adding more disease areas”, Warier said.

The company is also working on infectious diseases, like HIV, though it is yet to be commercial.

The company has raised $123 million so far from investors including Light Speed, Sequoia India, Novo Holdings, etc. The company is not looking at fresh fund raising. “We have not planned any further fund raising at the moment. We are close to profitability, maybe in another six months, so we are focusing on that. These are future projections, it has to play out, but we are looking at getting there," Warier says.

According to him, the message Qure gives is that AI as a business can become profitable. “Right now, AI businesses are all sort of tending towards very high cash burns. We think that we should be ahead of the curve. In India, by far we are the biggest in healthcare AI. Globally there are others operating in this space, and definitely we have some competition, but in the business areas that we focus on, we are the largest across the world," he adds.