Advancing Kidney Disease Research through Connected Genetic and Real-World Evidence

Chronic kidney disease affects more than 850 million people worldwide and represents a major public health challenge. Despite its prevalence, progress in kidney disease research and drug development has historically lagged behind other therapeutic areas. A central reason is the difficulty of achieving clarity across fragmented data sources and translating that information into actionable insight.

Kidney disease is not a single condition, but a broad spectrum of disorders with different causes, rates of progression, and responses to treatment. Clinical symptoms often overlap, and traditional diagnostic tools such as laboratory testing and biopsies frequently describe kidney damage without identifying its underlying drivers. This lack of clarity has contributed to late diagnoses, heterogeneous trial populations, and inefficiencies across the drug development lifecycle.

RenasightIQ™ was developed to help address these challenges by connecting genetic insights with real-world clinical evidence at scale. Built from Natera’s kidney-focused genetic testing panel and enriched with longitudinal clinical and claims data, RenasightIQ™ brings together genomic results, laboratory values, diagnoses, medication history, and outcomes. By integrating these data sources, RenasightIQ™ helps transform fragmented kidney data into a more connected and interpretable evidence foundation.

This approach is increasingly important as genetics plays a larger role in nephrology, the branch of medicine focused on kidney care. Research suggests that monogenic causes may explain up to 20 percent of chronic kidney disease cases in adults and up to 50 percent in children, with even higher prevalence in early-onset disease. Genetic factors also influence how common comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension contribute to kidney disease progression. Identifying these drivers is critical for improving diagnostic and prognostic clarity and for developing therapies that target disease mechanisms rather than symptoms alone.

Genetic insight, however, is most powerful when paired with real-world context. A pathogenic variant does not always result in disease, and the same variant can behave differently across patients. Understanding penetrance, progression, and outcomes requires longitudinal clinical data linked to genetics across diverse populations. RenasightIQ™ was designed to support this level of analysis by integrating genetic and clinical evidence over time.

As demand for actionable, kidney-specific, real-world evidence has grown, Natera is expanding how RenasightIQ™ insights are delivered. Launching in summer 2026, a core component of the platform will be the RenasightIQ™ Connected Evidence Suite, a subscription-based set of dashboards that researchers can use to explore real-world renal data in a structured and scalable way. Rather than relying on static datasets or one-off analyses, these dashboards will provide ongoing access to curated insights that support research, trial planning, and development decision-making.

The dashboards are being designed to help researchers define patient populations, assess trial feasibility, and understand how kidney disease manifests across different subgroups and geographies. Importantly, the Connected Evidence Suite will continue to evolve, with new capabilities being added to expand the depth and utility of RenasightIQ™ as a kidney-focused data resource. It aims to bring clarity and connection to kidney real-world evidence by reducing fragmentation and enabling faster insight generation.

Beyond analytics, RenasightIQ™ services extend into clinical trial execution. Natera offers a high-touch clinical trial service in which a dedicated team supports patient and provider outreach to help refer patients to clinical trials. Using insights gleaned from RenasightIQ™, this team works with pharma and biotech partners to identify patients who meet trial inclusion and exclusion criteria and facilitate referrals through established clinical pathways. In one rare kidney disease study, this approach enabled enrollment to occur approximately three times faster than average timelines, accelerating trial progress while reducing time and cost for the sponsoring company. This model also helped connect patients directly with clinical trial opportunities they may not otherwise have been aware of.

In addition to trial services, RenasightIQ™ supports collaborative ad hoc analyses tailored to the specific needs of pharma and biotech partners. These custom analyses are developed in close partnership with scientific and medical teams and can support a range of objectives, including natural history studies, exploratory research, trial design, and evidence generation. This flexible approach allows RenasightIQ™ data to be applied across different stages of the drug development lifecycle rather than confined to predefined outputs.

The implications for kidney disease drug development are significant. In therapeutic areas such as oncology, connected genetic and clinical evidence has already improved trial efficiency and increased the likelihood of regulatory success. Nephrology is approaching a similar inflection point. As gene-based therapies and targeted biologics move into development, the ability to clearly identify and reach the right patient populations becomes essential.

By addressing fragmentation and enabling connected analysis, RenasightIQ™ is helping researchers generate clearer insight, reduce uncertainty, and accelerate decision-making across kidney research and development. Connecting genetics with real-world data is not only improving how kidney disease is studied, but also helping bring new therapies to patients more efficiently.

Learn more about how Natera is supporting kidney disease research with connected genetic and real-world evidence at www.natera.com/RenasightIQ.