Renalytix and Carna Health partner to advance kidney disease screening and management

Renalytix PLC, a precision medicine diagnostics company, and Carna Health, an AI-enabled digital health company focused on chronic disease prevention, have entered into a landmark partnership to transform how health systems identify, stratify, and manage chronic kidney disease (CKD) and interconnected cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) complications.

By combining the FDA-approved KidneyIntelX.dkd test with Carna Health’s AI-driven prevention and digital care management platform, the collaboration aims to enable earlier, risk-guided interventions for patients with type 2 diabetes and early-stage CKD, reduce catastrophic dialysis starts, and address the growing economic burden of kidney disease in the United States and globally.

Partnership overview

Under the partnership, Renalytix’s KidneyIntelX.dkd test, recognized as a gold standard for predicting progressive decline in kidney function in patients with type 2 diabetes and early-stage CKD, will be integrated into Carna Health’s digital CKD prevention and management platform.

Health systems will be able to move beyond traditional detection models to implement personalized, risk-guided care pathways that support earlier, targeted interventions before patients reach high-cost clinical milestones such as unplanned dialysis starts.

With Medicare spending on CKD exceeding $130 billion annually in the United States, the collaboration is designed to improve patient outcomes and support value-based care models. By providing clinicians and eligible patients with a clear, preemptive, and actionable roadmap, the partnership seeks to reduce the incidence of 'crash' dialysis starts and improve long-term kidney and cardiovascular health.

Evidence-based imperative

Proven scale in CKD screening and monitoring

As Carna Health expands into the US market, its infrastructure has already demonstrated the impact of large-scale CKD screening and monitoring internationally. In Bermuda, Carna Health’s programs identified undiagnosed CKD in nearly 50% of a screened community. In Cameroon, the company has enrolled 35,000 individuals into CKD prevention initiatives, helping ensure that at-risk patients are not left behind.

Building on this momentum, Carna Health is launching an additional 75,000-patient, multi-regional CKD prevention program in Cameroon. Globally, the company projects screening an additional 1 to 1.5 million individuals by year-end, positioning Carna Health as one of the fastest-scaling CKM screening infrastructures operating internationally.

Carna Health’s platform is designed to integrate seamlessly with health systems, clinical laboratories, point-of-care testing (POCT) devices, electronic health records (EHRs), and other clinical systems. This interoperability enables rapid deployment at population scale without adding administrative burden for clinicians or care teams.

Impact on care with KidneyIntelX.dkd

The KidneyIntelX.dkd test combines proprietary blood-based biomarkers with clinical data and a machine-learning algorithm to enable targeted treatment in early-stage (1–3b) diabetic kidney disease, which represents the most critical segment of the overall CKD population. By identifying which patients are at highest risk for progressive decline in kidney function, health systems can prioritize resources and interventions for those most likely to benefit.

Superior predictive accuracy

In clinical validation studies, KidneyIntelX technology demonstrated a 72% relative improvement in identifying patients at high risk for progressive decline in kidney function compared with current standard-of-care markers, including estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) alone. This enhanced predictive accuracy supports more precise risk stratification and earlier, more effective intervention strategies.

Increased therapeutic utility

Real-world utility data showed that patients identified as high risk by the KidneyIntelX.dkd test were 4.5 times more likely to be prescribed life-preserving medications, such as sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, compared with patients in lower-risk categories. This increase in the use of guideline-directed medical therapy underscores the test’s role in driving evidence-based treatment decisions.

Pointed referrals to specialists

High-risk patients identified by KidneyIntelX.dkd were also significantly more likely (odds ratio = 2.49) to be referred to specialists, including nephrologists and endocrinologists, compared with low-risk patients. These pointed referrals help ensure that individuals at greatest risk receive timely specialist evaluation and management, which is critical for slowing CKD progression and preventing complications.

Improvement in critical HEDIS metrics

When KidneyIntelX technology was leveraged in higher-risk patients, key quality metrics improved over a 12-month period. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels declined from 8.3% to 7.5%, UACR levels were reduced by 10–20%, and the proportion of patients meeting target metrics increased from 33% to 61%. These improvements align with Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures and support value-based care objectives.

Bold kidney health vision

Elise Wilfinger, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer of Renalytix, said, “This partnership provides a seamless, end-to-end CKD management system that addresses broader population health needs while bringing the benefits of next-generation precision medicine to the forefront. It will unearth those actionable insights needed to target the right interventions, at the right time, allocate resources precisely, improve patient outcomes, and we believe, fundamentally change the trajectory of kidney disease.”

“Combining broader population prevention programs with screening and serial monitoring, ongoing CKD education, and precision management, with insights on which patients are most likely to experience disease progression will take standard of care to the next level,” said Salvatore Viscomi, MD, CEO of Carna Health.

“By integrating our platform with Renalytix’s precision diagnostics, we are creating a scalable model that aligns population health strategy with individualized patient care. We believe this will be game-changing in kidney disease management, improving outcomes and operational efficiencies. This is the missing link in value-based care. We are giving health systems the power to manage CKD populations with the same precision they apply to oncology or cardiology.”

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