Liva Healthcare wins EU funding to help treat pregnant women at risk of Type 2 diabetes

september 6, 2019

Liva Healthcare, the digital health coaching company, announces that it has secured funding from the EU Horizon 2020 fund to develop the: ‘Impact Diabetes Baby 2 Bump’ research project.

Working with a highly skilled international team of researchers from seven universities across the globe including the University College Dublin, the University of Bristol and the University of Granada, the organisation will work towards finding the best way to treat mothers at risk of developing the condition.

Horizon 2020 is the European Union’s framework programme to boost research and innovation. Starting in 2014, with a dedicated budget of around €77 billion it is the biggest EU research programme ever. This latest announcement places Liva Healthcare amongst other top companies to accelerate innovation in the healthcare sector.

The project

In the UK, up to 5% of all women giving birth have either pre‑existing diabetes or gestational diabetes[1]. The Impact Diabetes Bump 2 Baby project (IDB2B) starting in early 2020 will provide a screening tool to identify pregnant women at highest risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The program will also provide support self-management of lifestyle change through a personalised digital health coaching service with results expected in 2021.

The first of a kind program, focuses on an evidence-based life course approach, putting mothers and babies at the forefront. Health coaching will be provided through the Liva Healthcare app – which will guide a new mother’s journey. The program will also extend to help mothers and babies after birth, supporting the infant’s first 1000 days. Accredited multi-disciplined health coaches will interview and personally support the women, optimising engagement and helping to personalise the behavior change experience.

A brighter future for those living with Type 2 diabetes

Liva Healthcare’s participation in the IDB2B builds on their experience in a number of other national and international research projects focusing on preventing and reversing Type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. In the future, the program aims to increase cost-effectiveness for healthcare providers to provide solutions for pregnant women at the touch of a button worldwide.

Kristoffer From, the co-founder and CEO of Liva Healthcare says: “After huge success in the U.K working on the NHS Diabetes Prevention program this latest news brings Liva Healthcare to the forefront of cutting-edge research. We are proud to contribute to such important research that looks to prevent maternal and child diabetes. Our team are looking forward to working with other experts across Ireland, Spain, UK, Australia and Denmark.”

Sharleen O’Reilly, PhD, RD from the University College Dublin, also comments on the program. “We are grateful for the funding we have received from the EU to begin working on this exciting project. Pregnant women have previously been a more difficult-to-treat group and we welcome more research to speed up advancements care for expectant mothers”.

[1] NICE guideline [NG3], Diabetes in pregnancy: management from preconception to the postnatal period, (2015)

About Liva Healthcare

Liva Healthcare is an innovative digital health coaching company for scalable lifestyle and disease management. It is used by public healthcare, private insurance and pharma companies including NHS England, AXA PPP Healthcare and across primary healthcare in Denmark.

Liva Healthcare’s digital service facilitates ongoing personalised health coaching through an intuitive platform, building strong bonds between the coach, GP and patient. Its focus lies on tackling chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease, by driving positive behaviour change.

Currently being used in the UK, Denmark, Sweden and Canada, the Liva solution is disease agnostic and multilingual. It has proven to work efficiently across all socio-economic backgrounds and is capable of engaging groups normally hard to reach. It is based upon nine to 18 months of continuous patient engagement to make new habits and behaviors stick. One coach can manage up to 500 patients per year simultaneously with high patient outcomes.

About Horizon 2020

Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe’s global competitiveness.

By coupling research and innovation, Horizon 2020 is helping to advance excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges. The goal is to ensure Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in delivering innovation.