November 6, 2026 — During the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE), AI digital health pioneer Luca Healthcare and global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for strategic collaboration. The two companies will deepen their synergy around the application of acoustic respiratory model in screening for chronic respiratory diseases—building an end-to-end digital closed loop spanning “early risk screening, clinical diagnostic linkage, and continuous out-of-hospital management” to drive the large-scale adoption of early COPD screening at the primary care level.
▲Strategic Signing Ceremony
89.5% / 91.1%
Sensitivity & Specificity
Clinically validated with Ruijin Hospital
3 Coughs / Min
Hardware-Free Screening
Zero consumables via smartphone
501 Sites
Across 36 Cities
23.4% high-risk detection rate
>30%
Confirmatory Spirometry
High-risk hospital completion rate
China is home to approximately 100 million people living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), with a prevalence rate of 13.7% among adults aged 40 and older. Yet the overall diagnosis rate remains below 20%, and prior pulmonary function testing (spirometry) coverage is under 10% [1–3]. With COPD health management now officially incorporated into China’s National Basic Public Health Services Program, primary care institutions face an urgent need for large-scale high-risk screening—yet traditional pulmonary function testing remains difficult to scale across communities due to equipment requirements and operational thresholds.
Clinically developed and validated by Luca Healthcare in collaboration with Ruijin Hospital, the CoughSearch® COPD screening algorithm (granted a De Novo Status into China’s NMPA Special Review Procedure for Innovative Class III Medical Devices) requires no specialized hardware or consumables. Patients simply cough 3 times into a smartphone to receive a risk assessment within 1 minute, achieving a clinically validated sensitivity of 89.5% and specificity of 91.1% [4,5]. To date, the technology has been deployed across 501 sites in 36 cities nationwide. In primary care community screening, it has achieved a 23.4% high-risk detection rate and driven over 30% of high-risk individuals to complete hospital-based confirmatory spirometry—bridging the critical digital link between “broad community screening” and “standardized in-hospital diagnosis.” These results were announced at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Barcelona in September 2026.
▲ Dr. Echo Chen, Co-Founder & CEO of Luca Healthcare, speaking at the CIIE event
The key to advancing early COPD screening and diagnosis lies in lowering the threshold for screening so that potential patients can be identified early at the primary care level. Luca Healthcare is committed to translating rigorously validated acoustic AI algorithms into accessible everyday screening tools. We are delighted to enter this strategic partnership with AstraZeneca to integrate cutting-edge AI technology into the chronic respiratory care ecosystem, jointly building a complete closed loop from early screening and precision referral to long-term disease management.
Dr. Echo ChenCo-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Luca Healthcare
STRATEGIC SYNERGY
Collaborating Across Three Core Pillars of COPD Prevention and Management
01
Community Early Screening
From “Reliance on Specialized Equipment” to “Accessible Smartphone Follow-Up”
Embedding non-invasive, zero-consumable smartphone acoustic AI screening into routine public health check-ups, family doctor contracted follow-ups, and daily chronic disease management workflows—enabling primary care institutions to conduct large-scale high-risk screening with a low operational barrier and no additional specialized hardware.
02
Outpatient Triage
From “High Underdiagnosis” to “Targeted High-Risk Referral”
Assisting general practitioners in rapidly identifying high-risk individuals among first-visit patients presenting with chronic cough or shortness of breath, seamlessly connecting them to diagnostic spirometry and respiratory specialist referrals to maximize detection efficiency across limited primary care resources.
03
Out-of-Hospital Management
From “Single Clinic Visits” to “Home Tracking & Real-World Evidence”
Leveraging high-frequency mobile acoustic AI self-assessments to capture out-of-hospital symptom fluctuations and support early warning of acute exacerbations; both parties will also jointly conduct real-world clinical and health economics studies in Chinese populations to build local evidence-based medicine (EBM) foundations.
During CIIE, CoughSearch® is also featured at the AstraZeneca Booth (Medical Equipment & Healthcare Products Exhibition Area), where visitors can experience the convenient, end-to-end acoustic AI COPD risk screening workflow firsthand.
Taking the CIIE signing as a new starting point, Luca Healthcare and AstraZeneca will continue to advance the deep integration of innovative AI digital medical technologies with clinical care scenarios, bringing accessible and reliable AI respiratory early screening services to more patients and families.
References
- General Office of the National Health Commission of China. Key Publicity Points for World COPD Day 2024. 2024.
- Wang C, et al. Lancet. 2018;391(10131):1706–1717.
- Cong S, et al. Chin J Epidemiol. 2020;41(7):1034–1040.
- Wang C, et al. eClinicalMedicine. 2024;74:102597.
- Zhou J, et al. npj Prim Care Respir Med. 2026;36(1):8.