Abdul Latif Jameel Health and Melody Itl announce strategic collaboration

• Remote monitoring and analysis capability enables frequent and long-term real-time supervision of expectant mothers in remote locations and high-risk pregnancies
• Simple to use, small, portable, lightweight, wireless and affordable the ‘Melody i Mobile Fetal Monitor iCTG’ reduces stress of expectant mothers.
• Founded in 2020, Abdul Latif Jameel Health was created as a response to the ongoing global disparity in access to modern medical care, most notably across emerging economies of the developing world

Abdul Latif Jameel Health (through Abdul Latif Jameel General Trading Co., Japan) announced a new collaboration with Melody International for the distribution of Melody’s innovative remote ‘Melody i Mobile Fetal Monitor iCTG’, a cloud-based mobile wireless fetal monitor platform, across selected markets in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa covering a territory of over 1.9 billion people.

This new collaboration aims to address the lack of access to adequate fetal monitoring in many countries with unmet needs due to limited availability of medical facilities and maternity physicians, or those with geographically dispersed populations not easily able to visit primary health care.

Melody  has developed a convenient, smart and highly portatble remote mobile fetal monitoring device to assist in problematic or high risk situations, enabling safer and more secure births for mothers.  Their integrated platform comprises a fetal heart monitor (with in-built speaker in the transducer, that also functions as a fetal doppler); a uterine contraction monitor (external tocometer); and a smart tablet device to see data in real-time and connect to the internet.

Approved by Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency of Japan (PMDA)[1]; the Thai FDA, and currently preparing application for USA FDA approval, Melody’s iCTG is already widely used across many hospitals in Japan.  Its effectiveness has been proven in a variety of clinical cases, including as a partial alternative to periodic medical checkups for pregnant women living in remote or isolated areas and frequent and long-term monitoring of high-risk pregnancies which require regular tests such as mothers of late child bearing age and those with risks of premature labor.  These cases can be successfully monitored by clinicians analyzing the data remotely via the internet whilst the mother wears the device at home.  This remote screening capability enables a quick intervention if necessary, decreasing a risk for unexpected or emergency delivery as a result.

Furthermore, collaboration between emergency transport services and hospitals during critical situations enables real-time data to be accessed by doctors to monitor the fetus’ condition during transit and for the receiving hospital to prepare a treatment plan before arrival, maximizing the likelihood of a successful outcome.

Compared to conventional fetal monitors, which can be large and expensive, the innovative Japanese technology of

the Melody i Fetal Monitor iCTG is considered unique. The system is affordable, portable, convenient and paperless, sending data to the tablet display or smart devices.

The transducer’s weight is close to that of common smartphones and one hour’s charge provides up to 6 hours on monitoring capability.

Commenting on the signing of the MoU, Yhuko OGATA, (尾形 優子) Founder and Chied Executive Officer, Melody International said:

“We are delighted to be partnering with Abdul Latif Jameel Health with their mission aligned to our own so together we can bring this innovative Japanese technology to a wider population reducing risk and saving lives across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, where such perinatal monitoring capability is not so easily available.”

Shigeki ENAMI (榎並滋喜) President, Abdul Latif Jameel General Trading Co., said “We will continue to work with partners such as Melody to bring the very best of Japanese innovation and technological advancement to truly benefit the wider world.”

Akram Bouchenaki, Chief Executive Officer, Abdul Latif Jameel Health further commented: “Abdul Latif Jameel Health believes that this innovative and intuitive monitoring system will be of great value in the accelerating accessibility to perinatal monitoring and improving the outcome for millions.  In collaboration with Melody International, we aim to reduce the rate of perinatal deaths and continue our mission to create a more inclusive healthcare environment in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.”

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[1] Approval Number 230AFBZX00024000

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Notes to Editors

About Abdul Latif Jameel Health

Backed by Abdul Latif Jameel, one of the most respected diversified family businesses and investors with a 75-year heritage, deep roots, and established networks alongside a multi-sector presence in 30 countries across six continents, Abdul Latif Jameel Health is uniquely positioned as a trusted partner in realizing major innovations and opportunities in the healthcare world.

Abdul Latif Jameel Health reflects the Jameel family’s long-established commitment to innovating for a better future through Community Jameel, an international organization supporting science and technology-led solutions to global challenges.  Community Jameel and MIT co-founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health (Jameel Clinic) in September 2018 – which has rapidly become the very epicenter of AI and healthcare at MIT – and the Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics (Jameel Institute) co-founded with Imperial College London, in October 2019, using novel data analytics to reduce global risk of preventable disease most recently including the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and strengthening health systems in the most fragile settings.

Abdul Latif Jameel Health takes this commitment into the commercial environment addressing tangible real-world needs today, for a better tomorrow.  It is focused on health care inclusion in the global south, accelerating access to modern medical care for those who need it most by opening up/growing new markets for distribution of existing solutions and investing in the future of MedTech.

Abdul Latif Jameel actively invests in innovative, early-stage and breakthrough ventures and technology, aiming to positively shape the future of core industries driving the global economy through its’ investments that span medical and healthcare industries, from pharmaceuticals and vaccines to cutting-edge medical technology, along with emergent technologies across FinTech, InsurTech, electric vehicles and future mobility solutions.

For further information, visit: https://aljhealth.com and our brand video here.
Media Contact:  Email aljhealth@edelman.com or telephone: +971 54 996 9935 (GMT +4 hours UAE)

About Abdul Latif Jameel

Abdul Latif Jameel is a global investor and diversified, private family owned business celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2020.  It is comprised of a number of independent entities across a number of major industry sectors including: passenger vehicles; commercial vehicles and equipment; logistics; engineering and manufacturing; financial services; energy and environmental services, health; land and real estate: consumer products and advertising and media.  Strong trusted networks and long-established relationships make Abdul Latif Jameel a powerful business and investment collaborator across the world.  It currently has a presence in more than 30 countries on six continents and employs more than 11,000 people of over 40 nationalities.
For further information, visit: https://aljhealth.com.
For press inquiries, contact media@alj.ae, or call +971 4 448 0906 (GMT +4 hours UAE)

About Melody International

(headquartered in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, Representative Director: Yhuko OGA)

Melody International applies Japanese maternal monitoring technology to develop, produce, and market products that protect fetal and maternal health at any time and anywhere, and support safe and secure births.

In 1974, Prof. Kazuhiro Hara and Prof. Yasuhito Takeuchi created a disruptive breakthrough on Doppler-based fetal monitoring with their ‘real time adaptive autocorrelation’ method which has since become a worldwide de-facto standard method in this field, implemented in virtually all clinical fetal monitoring to-date.  Melody International Ltd. developed iCTG  – the smallest approved fetal monitor on the market – using this same principle.  Despite its size, iCTG has equivalent functions to  larger and more expensive conventional machines and is approved by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency of Japan (230AFBZX00024000). Until now, such devices were available only inside the hospital environment and used by trained personnel, but iCTG’s portability allows it to be used at any location and its intuitive design means that even non-medical personnel can use it easily.

For more information, visit: melodyi.net

Melody International Ltd. Next Kagawa 304, 2217-44 Hayashi, Takamatsu, Kagawa 761-0301 JAPAN

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