IBM's Watson-based cognitive computing product for oncology (PRNewsFoto/IBM)

Otsuka and IBM have formed a digital health company in Japan that will develop and market specialist software to analyse psychiatric patient data.  

Known as Otsuka Digital Health, the partners' joint venture will formally established on Friday, with the pharma company taking an 85% stake in it to IBM Japan's 15%.  

The company has been set up to market MENTAT, software whose development was based on Otsuka's knowledge of central nervous system disorders and IBM's Watson-based technology.  

In a statement Otsuka said: “In psychiatry, patient symptoms and medical history are not usually enumerated and are entered into non-standardised electronic medical charts.  

“Therefore it takes significant time and effort for hospital medical staff to analyse and understand a large volume of records, and a massive of amount data is not used well.”  

The company hopes that its new digital health company and MENTAT software will enable hospital medical staff to use electronic medical records with more insight and, ultimate, provide better patient care.  

The venture will operate independently of Otsuka's pharmaceutical business, where its CNS interests, where it is one of the five-biggest companies in the world, thanks to products such as Abilify.

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