New study reveals promising new way to find serious liver disease earlier

SOMERSET, United Kingdom and BARCELONA, Spain, May 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Predictive Health Intelligence today announced a promising new way to identify people with serious liver disease earlier, using existing NHS blood test data. The findings come from the LiveWell study, with results being presented at a major European liver congress this week.

The study looked at a new approach called the Cumulative Liver Damage Index, or “CLDI”, delivered using a part-NHS owned technology called hepatoSIGHT.

Unlike standard liver tests, which only show what is happening at one moment in time, CLDI looks at how liver damage has built up over many years. This could help doctors identify people at risk much earlier, before they become seriously unwell.

Liver disease is one of the fastest-growing causes of death in the UK. Death rates have increased more than fourfold since the 1970s, even while many other major diseases have improved. There are many causes of liver disease and anyone can be affected, including those who never drink alcohol.

One of the biggest challenges is that liver disease is often silent for many years. Many people do not know they are ill until the disease has already become advanced.

Currently, there is no national screening programme for liver disease. Existing methods can be expensive, difficult to scale, and are often not accurate enough to identify the right patients early.

“After more than 20 years as an NHS gastroenterologist, I have seen too many patients whose liver disease was only found once serious damage had already been done. Chronic liver disease develops silently over many years, so it makes sense that we should look at the pattern of liver injury over time, not just single blood tests in isolation. These findings show that using routine NHS data in this way could help us identify people at higher risk much earlier and create a simpler, more targeted pathway for assessment before advanced disease develops.”

The LiveWell study tested whether CLDI could improve this.

Researchers used existing NHS blood test results to find people who might be at higher risk of significant liver disease. Participants were then invited for further liver assessment.

The study recruited 994 participants from a single NHS site in less than a year.

The results showed that CLDI was much more effective at identifying people with clinically significant liver disease than commonly used first-line investigations.

Importantly, this approach could also simplify things for patients. Instead of multiple rounds of testing, patients identified as high risk could potentially be referred directly for a liver scan, reducing unnecessary appointments and helping NHS services focus resources where they are most needed. During the study, patients identified using CLDI were invited for a non-invasive liver scan, provided by Tawazun Health, and a genetic profile, provided by Sano Genetics.

“This study is a meaningful step forward for people living with undiagnosed liver disease. The fact that CLDI can identify clinically significant fibrosis this accurately, using data that already exists in NHS systems, changes what earlier identification can realistically look like at scale,” said Charlotte Guzzo, Chief Operating Officer of Sano Genetics. “We are proud to have supported this work and excited to see where the larger validation study takes it.”

Researchers believe this could represent an important step towards earlier, more targeted identification of liver disease at population scale.

“These findings are an exciting and important step forward, showing how patients can know more, sooner, and have a better chance to act before serious damage is done,” said Larry R. Holden, President and CEO of the Global Liver Institute. “For patients and families, earlier identification means more opportunity, more informed choices, and more hope. This is exactly the kind of progress we need if we are going to turn the tide on chronic liver disease.”

hepatoSIGHT is currently being expanded across more parts of South West of England, with further NHS rollout planned in 2027.

A larger follow-up study involving 8,000 patients across multiple sites is already underway, with results expected later this summer.

This work was supported by Innovate UK Grant Number iUK 10073169.

Notes to editors
About Predictive Health Intelligence
Predictive Health Intelligence is a medical technology company with a mission to end the late diagnosis of liver disease. They have developed a case-finding search engine to help clinicians identify people who might be at risk of developing chronic liver disease using existing, historical data. Identifying liver disease early, whilst more treatment options are available, can improve clinical outcomes and reduce the burden of late-stage disease on healthcare systems and individuals.

Predictive Health Intelligence was initially funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and is a part NHS-owned entity.

About Sano Genetics
Sano Genetics’ mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to precision medicine. Although accessibility to DNA sequencing has surged in the past decade, precision medicine studies have failed to keep up. They are still complex, time-consuming and costly, and many potentially life-changing treatments never see daylight.

Sano simplifies precision medicine studies with a 360° platform that connects every stage: strategy consultation, patient finding, biomarker screening, patient engagement and analytics. The company works with pharmaceutical companies and biotechs to find, screen, and engage participants faster and more cost effectively; with researchers to increase efficiency and impact; and with patient advocacy groups to drive research with and for their communities.

Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, Sano’s diverse team combines years of expertise in medical research, genetics and security-focused software engineering. More information is available at https://www.sanogenetics.com/.

About Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust runs acute hospital services, community services, mental health and learning disability services and a quarter of Somerset’s GP practices. It runs services from two acute hospitals – Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Yeovil Hospital in Yeovil – services in the community and services from the 13 community hospitals in the county, a range of mental health and learning disability services and Symphony Healthcare Services runs a quarter of GP practices in the county. The trust is committed to delivering high-quality, compassionate care and improving health outcomes through clinical excellence, research and innovation. It hosts an active portfolio of clinical research and works with NHS, academic and industry partners to develop and deliver studies that benefit patients and communities, supported by dedicated research infrastructure and experienced multidisciplinary teams.

About Tawazun Health
Tawazun Health is a CQC-regulated specialist provider of FibroScan liver assessments, delivering early identification of liver disease risk across healthcare, community, research, and corporate environments. Working with NHS partners, commercial sponsors, and independent organisations, Tawazun expands access to non-invasive liver diagnostics beyond traditional hospital pathways — enabling scalable deployment where services are resource constrained.

Learn more at: https://tawazunhealth.com/

Media contact
James Hounsell,
Co-Founder, Evolene Ltd.
James.hounsell@evolene.co.uk

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/47fd087d-45a1-405a-8639-4ddd07e3f0e2

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