HOLLAND, Mich., May 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- An international group of leading experts and advocates in the fight against idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), fibrosing interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), and other respiratory diseases including emphysematous conditions announced today the formation of the Open Source Imaging Consortium (OSIC). This global, not-for-profit organization is a cooperative and open source effort between academia, industry and philanthropy to enable rapid advances in the detection and diagnosis of these conditions through digital imaging and machine learning.

"OSIC was created on behalf of the countless patients around the world living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other largely-ignored lung diseases," said Elizabeth Estes, executive director, OSIC. "By bringing together the world's 'best in class' in an open source, collaborative effort, we can collectively speed diagnosis, aid prognosis, and ultimately allow doctors to treat patients more efficiently and effectively."

OSIC's goal is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of ILD research by bringing together radiologists, clinicians, and computational scientists from around the world to develop digital imaging biomarkers for accurate imaging-based diagnosis, prognosis and prediction of therapy response. After working together to create a rich repository of approximately 15,000 anonymized image scans and clinical data (1,500 by the end of 2019), OSIC will use machine learning to develop algorithms and then promote the incorporation of those algorithms into commercial analysis tools.

The organization's founding partners include Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world's leading research-driven pharmaceutical companies; Siemens Healthineers, one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry and a trendsetter in medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, and health IT; CSL Behring, one of the world's largest biotechnology companies, driven by its promise to help patients lead full lives; and FLUIDDA, the world leader in the field of Functional Respiratory Imaging (FRI) research and development. All of OSIC's partners will work in pre-competitive areas for mutual benefit and, most importantly, the benefit of patients.

"The current methods for identifying ILDs can be challenging and, by incorporating machine learning technology into the process, there is great opportunity for improvement," said Dr. Kay Tetzlaff, therapeutic area head medicine, respiratory and biosimilars, Boehringer Ingelheim. "Using digital biomarkers to predict outcome and response to therapy is key to precision medicine and drug development. OSIC's open science model is the best approach to speed up progress and ultimately deliver benefits to radiologists, health care systems, pharmaceutical companies, medical technology vendors, academic institutions and, most importantly, patients."

"OSIC is an excellent example of the way that new, high-impact solutions for patients can be developed when pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and medical technology join forces," said Christian Wolfrum, head of new business development, Siemens Healthineers. "Today, it frequently takes up to two years after symptoms first appear before a patient receives the correct diagnosis and starts the right therapy. By applying and expanding our expertise in digitalization and artificial intelligence, we can work together to significantly shorten this period."

"We're proud to join the OSIC collaboration, a unique, industry-leading initiative," said Lars Groenke, global clinical development lead, respiratory, CSL Behring.  "The partnership is a positive step towards achieving earlier and more accurate diagnosis algorithms in clinical practice, and that will directly benefit patients and ultimately change lives."

"Medical images hold a lot of secrets that can now be uncovered using the newest technologies," said Jan De Backer, CEO, FLUIDDA. "Through initiatives like OSIC, we expect to significantly accelerate ILD drug development and improve patient care in the near term."

OSIC is steered by its Core Science Leadership Team, a diverse group of leading subject matter experts responsible for driving progress toward the organization's goals. Members of the team include Dr. David Barber, University College London (computational science lead); Dr. Simon Walsh, National Heart and Lung Institute Imperial College, London (radiology lead) and Dr. Kevin Brown, National Jewish Health (pulmonology lead).  OSIC's Medical & Science Advisory Board (MSAB) will provide guidance for all scientific and technical work, and the organization's board of directors will serve as an executive function to monitor progress and ensure advancement is met.

Additional member partners, collaborators and contributors are welcome and encouraged. For more information regarding commitment benefits and opportunities, please visit www.osicild.org and contact Elizabeth Estes at eestes@osicild.org.

About Boehringer Ingelheim
Improving the health of humans and animals is the goal of the research-driven pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The focus in doing so is on diseases for which no satisfactory treatment option exists to date. The company therefore concentrates on developing innovative therapies that can extend patients' lives. In animal health, Boehringer Ingelheim stands for advanced prevention.

Family-owned since it was established in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the pharmaceutical industry's top 20 companies. Some 50,000 employees create value through innovation daily for the three business areas – human pharmaceuticals, animal health, and biopharmaceuticals. In 2018, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of around 17.5 billion euros. R&D expenditure of almost 3.2 billion euros, corresponded to 18.1 per cent of net sales.

As a family-owned company, Boehringer Ingelheim plans in generations and focuses on long-term success. The company therefore aims at organic growth from its own resources with simultaneous openness to partnerships and strategic alliances in research. In everything it does, Boehringer Ingelheim naturally adopts responsibility towards mankind and the environment.

More information about Boehringer Ingelheim can be found on www.boehringer-ingelheim.com or in our annual report: http://annualreport.boehringer-ingelheim.com.

About Siemens Healthineers
Siemens Healthineers enables healthcare providers worldwide to increase value by empowering them on their journey toward expanding precision medicine, transforming care delivery, improving the patient experience, and digitalizing healthcare. A leader in medical technology, Siemens Healthineers is constantly innovating its portfolio of products and services in its core areas of diagnostic and therapeutic imaging, and in laboratory diagnostics and molecular medicine. Siemens Healthineers is also actively developing its digital health services and enterprise services.

In fiscal 2018, which ended on September 30, 2018, Siemens Healthineers generated revenue of €13.4 billion and adjusted profit of €2.3 billion and has about 50,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available at www.siemens-healthineers.com.

About CSL Behring
CSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by its promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients' needs by using the latest technologies, we develop and deliver innovative therapies that are used to treat coagulation disorders, primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioedema, inherited respiratory disease, and neurological disorders. The company's products are also used in cardiac surgery, organ transplantation, burn treatment, and to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn.

CSL Behring operates one of the world's largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. The parent company, CSL Limited, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, employs more than 22,000 people, and delivers its life-saving therapies to people in more than 60 countries. For inspiring stories about the promise of biotechnology, visit Vita CSLBehring.com/vita and follow us on Twitter.com/CSLBehring.

About FLUIDDA
FLUIDDA is the world leader in the field of Functional Respiratory Imaging (FRI) research and development. The company's proprietary FRI technology offers pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers a unique entry point into personalized medicine for patients suffering from respiratory diseases and sleep-related breathing disorders. Implementation of FRI in the clinical practice creates significant added value to the current healthcare standard in the respiratory field.

SOURCE Open Source Imaging Consortium (OSIC)

Related Links

http://www.osicild.org