CardieX up on entering commercial partnership with Mobvoi for new health smartwatch

CardieX Ltd (ASX:CDX) is higher on entering a new commercial partnership agreement with consumer electronics and AI company Mobvoi to launch a new line of smartwatch with heart and arterial health management features based on the patented SphygmoCor technology of CardieX subsidiary ATCOR. This new commercial partnership with Google-backed Mobvoi follows a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) initiated between the parties in 2019. CardieX CEO and managing director Craig Cooper said: “I'm excited to be moving into commercial production of our first wearable device partnership with one of the global leaders in smartwatches and consumer AI technology. “This is the first of many wearable integrations planned for our Arty health analytics platform which represents some of the most advanced cardiovascular and consumer wearable applications available on the market today.” Shares have been up as much as 30% today to 6.3 cents. Builds on existing agreement The agreement expands on the existing JDA which was focused on determining the feasibility of launching ATCOR’s patented cardiovascular and consumer health features in a wearable device fitted with a PPG sensor. Following the success of that development program, the company lodged an application for a patent for a method of extracting advanced health features and data from a PPG sensor and commenced discussions with Mobvoi surrounding the development and commercial release of a CardieX powered smartwatch. Consumer smartwatch Under the new commercial partnership agreement, CardieX and Mobvoi will jointly launch a new line of consumer smartwatch with a heart and arterial health management feature set based around ATCOR’s patented SphygmoCor technology for measuring central arterial waveforms. Mobvoi will be responsible for developing the hardware and firmware for the new smartwatch, while CardieX will integrate a proprietary Mobvoi specific algorithm feature set based on the Company’s Arty health analytics platform into the smartwatch. As a result, the new smartwatch will be the first in the world to feature the company’s Heart Stress, Arterial Age, Exercise Capacity (eCAP) and Arty Score with active community and AI-powered health coaching services. “Integrating advanced health features” Cooper said: “Our partnership with Mobvoi sees a select feature set of our Arty health analytics platform incorporated into a new smartwatch that was specifically designed to integrate our advanced health features. “The new smartwatch will feature a revolutionary new sensor-based data extraction method based on our recently announced patent application for wearable sensor technology. “Our first integration into the Mobvoi smartwatch will offer a suite of our analytics marketed under our Health360 brand with a focus on cardiovascular and heart health. “Going forward, however, we expect to be able to offer wearable data and analytics around multiple disorders, specifically those related to vascular diseases such as Alzheimer's, as well as more advanced consumer fitness analytics. “All of these are based on the data we are able to obtain by way of our globally patented SphygmoCor technology for measuring central arterial waveforms as well as our patent-pending PPG sensor technology.” Revenue split agreement The new Mobvoi smartwatch will be marketed with Health360 premium subscription service powered by CardieX with a revenue-share split. Revenues to CardieX include subscription fees from CardieX-developed Health360 premium services and product sale revenues based on direct to consumer sales and distribution rights. Mobvoi will also guarantee minimum order quantities (MOQs) to CardieX for a two-year period upon full market release. The new Mobvoi smartwatch will be marketed with a Health360 premium subscription service powered by CardieX and will include a three-month free trial period. Following the free trial, a per month subscription revenue fee will apply and be split with 60% of the subscription fee accruing to CardieX and 40% of the fee accruing to Mobvoi. Additionally, Mobvoi will pay a royalty to CardieX on the sale of the products at a rate that will be determined between the parties prior to full market release. Market release plans The initial phase of the agreement includes a six-month market release in North America of the new smartwatch targeted for quarter one of 2021 but no later than April 2021. As part of the full market release, Mobvoi will drive commercialisation in North America and CardieX will hold distribution rights in Australia, New Zealand and non-competitive channels in North America. CardieX also has the option to be a worldwide (or other defined markets) distributor. Commercialisation continues The launch of the Mobvoi smartwatch coincides with CardieX’s recent launch of ATCOR·X, a new division focused on the development and licensing of cardiovascular algorithms to wearable and connected fitness companies. CardieX will continue its efforts to commercialise its own CardieX-branded wearable device in 2021 that will feature a full comprehensive feature set powered by the newly developed PPG-sensor based algorithm set, combined with the ATCOR·X suite of wearable health analytics. Cooper said: “This new commercial partnership follows our recently announced separate partnership with Andon for the development of a new home-based vital signs monitor featuring our patented SphygmoCor technology, which represents the first home device to incorporate medical grade diagnostics for cardiovascular health that previously were only available through specialist clinicians. “Importantly, the partnership with Mobvoi also exposes us to a whole new ecosystem of potential partnerships given the strategic shareholdings in Mobvoi by some of the world's leading investment, technology, health, and industrial corporations."