Traditional and Digital Biomarkers: Two Worlds Apart?

Lmar M Babrak; Joseph Menetski; Michael Rebhan; Giovanni Nisato; Marc Zinggeler; Noé Brasier; Katja Baerenfaller; Thomas Brenzikofer; Laurenz Baltzer; Christian Vogler; Leo Gschwind; Cornelia Schneider; Fabian Streiff; Peter M A Groenen; Enkelejda Miho

doi:10.1159/000502000

Traditional and Digital Biomarkers: Two Worlds Apart?

Digit Biomark. 2019 Aug 16;3(2):92-102. doi: 10.1159/000502000. eCollection 2019 May-Aug.

Authors

Lmar M Babrak¹, Joseph Menetski², Michael Rebhan^{3

4}, Giovanni Nisato⁵, Marc Zinggeler⁶, Noé Brasier⁷, Katja Baerenfaller⁸, Thomas Brenzikofer⁴, Laurenz Baltzer⁹, Christian Vogler¹⁰, Leo Gschwind¹⁰, Cornelia Schneider^{11

12}, Fabian Streiff⁴, Peter M A Groenen^{4

13}, Enkelejda Miho^{1

4

14}

Affiliations

¹ FHNW University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, Muttenz, Switzerland.
² Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, North Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
³ Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.
⁴ DayOne, BaselArea. Swiss, Basel, Switzerland.
⁵ Health Hacking Lab, Basel, Switzerland.
⁶ CSEM, Muttenz, Switzerland.
⁷ CMIO Research Group, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁸ Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF), University of Zurich, and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Davos, Switzerland.
⁹ S. Karger AG, Basel, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Advancience AG, Allschwil, Switzerland.
¹¹ Clinical Pharmacy and Epidemiology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
¹² Hospital Pharmacy, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
¹³ Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Translational Science, Allschwil, Switzerland.
¹⁴ aiNET GmbH, Basel, Switzerland.

Abstract

The identification and application of biomarkers in the clinical and medical fields has an enormous impact on society. The increase of digital devices and the rise in popularity of health-related mobile apps has produced a new trove of biomarkers in large, diverse, and complex data. However, the unclear definition of digital biomarkers, population groups, and their intersection with traditional biomarkers hinders their discovery and validation. We have identified current issues in the field of digital biomarkers and put forth suggestions to address them during the DayOne Workshop with participants from academia and industry. We have found similarities and differences between traditional and digital biomarkers in order to synchronize semantics, define unique features, review current regulatory procedures, and describe novel applications that enable precision medicine.

Keywords: Biomarker classification; Digital biomarkers; Digital health; Semantics; Traditional biomarkers.