How health stocks get a lift from Big Brother

MANY savers are fearful about the reams of data companies hold on them for fears that it allows Big Brother to spy on them.

But what if you could make money by investing in the firms using your information? You may feel deeply uncomfortable about the amount of information that is held about you, but big data, as this is known, is transforming healthcare and changing the way that diseases are cured, claim expert fund managers.

And there is cash to be made backing companies which are developing this new technology.

Dani Saurymper is manager of the Axa Framlington Health fund, which would have almost tripled your money over the past five years. Dan Mahoney, meanwhile, manages the Polar Capital Healthcare Opportunities fund, which would have turned £1,000 into £3,477 in that time. And it is big data that is driving a big chunk of the returns and what they are most excited about for the future.

Whether it’s using social media, applying for a credit card, or visiting the dentist – almost everything we do creates data. And businesses are learning how to use it.

When you visit the GP for a check-up the data is stored anonymously. Companies now use that information which is grouped together with millions of other bits of data to look for underlying signals which might indicate a future problem. Computer programmes can now predict a heart attack six months before it happens and it could be done much more efficiently than by visiting a doctor.

It sounds simple but, with thousands of patients, it is difficult for doctors to look for all of the patterns and early warning signals and, even if you find them, to decide who needs attention.

A system which flags up warning signs about you could save hospitals millions, and save lives.

Alzheimer’s is a particular concern. It’s a progressive disorder we can’t cure, so the challenge is to identify it as early as possible and then slow it down.

US health provider UnitedHealth has 40m people in its Optum database. Its system looks three years back through a patient’s medical history to see if there were any indicators which could have signalled a problem in advance.

A key indicator is that a person tends to have a run of falls or bone breakages before they are diagnosed, which indicates their cognitive awareness is deteriorating.

Dexcom, meanwhile, produces a sensor for people with diabetes. The sensor lies on the skin and data is sent to a device or even to your smartphone, forewarning of a sugar spike or low to help sufferers manage their condition.

Saurymper says: ‘If there are regular sugar crashes then it can flag up that you need the dosage of your treatment adjusted.’

Earlier models from other companies have, apparently, got things wrong. Like all new areas of technology there is an element of trial and error – but the more compamany nies get to grips with it, the better it will become.

This can be a crucial costsaving device too.

Mahoney says: ‘Being able to use devices and data to see if a drug is as effective as it claims is crucial. The NHS could use that information to reduce the price, which as a taxpayer is important.’

In hospitals there is the hope that big data will help reduce pressure on nurses. If a machine is monitoring your medication dosage rather than an individual then the chance for error is reduced.

A machine can monitor a patient’s data to check how much of a drug is needed and how quickly.

This can be seen in practice to an extent with barcoded bands already put on patients’ wrists when they are admitted to hospital.

A quick scan reveals a person’s full medical history and double checks a drug is being given to the right person.

The crunching of big data has, too, revolutionised the treatment of cancer. Saurymper says: ‘The first time we sequenced a gene we didn’t realise it would take another 10 years to work out what all the data that came out of that meant. That first time cost around $3bn.

‘Today, gene sequencing can cost as little at $1,000 and take just a few weeks. In future cancer will be thought of as a chronic disease, something which you treat over life, not something which kills.’

Gene sequencing means analysing a person’s DNA to find a bit of code which has gone wrong.

Cancer is a mutation of a gene so it is thought that working out where the code has gone wrong means you can correct it, and cure the disease. Previously cancer was identified by which organ it was present in, now it is the gene sequence which is the focus.

Saurymper says: ‘A lot of this sounds like complete science fiction, pie-in-the-sky stuff, but some of this is happening already and some of it is just a few years away and it is incredibly exciting.’