Connecting genetics and real-world evidence to advance kidney disease research

Chronic kidney disease affects more than 850 million people worldwide and continues to impose a heavy clinical and economic burden. Despite its scale, progress in kidney disease research and drug development lags behind other therapeutic areas. A key challenge is understanding disease cause, progression and patient variability across real populations.

 

Kidney disease encompasses a wide range of disorders that differ in onset, rate of progression, response to treatment and underlying biology. Clinical symptoms of these disorders often overlap, and traditional diagnostic tools such as laboratory tests and biopsies frequently describe kidney damage without identifying its root cause. Often, disease progression and treatment efficacy for patients with specific genetic variants vary from patients with otherwise similar clinical symptoms. As a result, many patients are diagnosed late, and research efforts are often constrained by incomplete characterisation of disease.

 

RenasightIQ™ was developed to help address these challenges by connecting genetic insights with real-world clinical evidence at scale. Built on data from Natera’s kidney-focused genetic testing panel and enriched with longitudinal clinical data, RenasightIQ™ brings together genomic results, laboratory values, diagnoses, medication history and outcomes. This integrated foundation enables researchers to study kidney disease through multiple lenses as it unfolds over time, rather than relying on isolated data snapshots.

 

The need for this approach is growing as studies increasingly demonstrate the important role that genetics plays in nephrology. Research suggests that monogenic causes may explain up to 50 per cent of chronic kidney disease cases in children and up to 20 per cent of cases in adults, with even higher rates 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 not only for diagnosis and prognosis, but also for developing therapies that target underlying disease mechanisms.

 

Genetic data is essential, but not sufficient on its own. A genetic variant does not always result in disease, and the same variant can affect patients differently. Understanding penetrance (how often an individual with pathogenic variant experiences symptoms), expressivity (how severe the symptoms are), progression and outcomes requires linking genetics with longitudinal clinical information in real-world populations. RenasightIQ™ was designed to support this level of insight by integrating genetic data with clinical and outcomes data over time.

 

In the summer of 2026, Natera is launching RenasightIQ™’s Connected Evidence Suite, a subscription-based set of dashboards that allows researchers to explore kidney-specific real-world evidence in a structured and scalable way. Rather than delivering static datasets or one-off analyses, the Connected Evidence Suite enables ongoing access to curated insights that support research, development and trial planning workflows.

 

The dashboards are designed to help researchers identify and define patient populations, assess feasibility for clinical trials, and understand how kidney disease presents across different geographies and subgroups. These capabilities continue to evolve, and Natera will expand the dashboard offerings throughout the autumn and winter of 2026 to make RenasightIQ™ an increasingly robust and flexible data resource for the kidney research community.

 

Beyond analytics, RenasightIQ™ is designed to translate integrated genetic and clinical evidence into real-world clinical trial execution, by combining kidney-specific insights with an operational team that actively supports trial enrolment. Rather than relying on broad recruitment tactics, this team uses RenasightIQ™ to identify patients who meet study criteria, and works through established care pathways to support appropriate referrals. In one rare kidney disease study, this evidence-led approach supported enrolment at roughly three times the typical pace, helping sponsors shorten timelines, reduce costs and reach patients who may not otherwise have been aware of relevant trial opportunities.

 

In addition to clinical trial support, Natera collaborates with pharma and biotech companies to deliver tailored analyses aligned with specific research and development needs. These analyses are developed in close partnership with scientific and medical teams and can support a range of objectives, including natural history studies, exploratory research, clinical trial design and post-approval evidence generation. This collaborative model allows RenasightIQ™ data to be applied more flexibly, rather than being confined to predefined use-cases.

 

The implications for drug development are significant. In oncology and rare disease, genetic stratification has already improved clinical trial efficiency and increased the likelihood of regulatory success. Nephrology is now approaching a similar inflection point. As gene-based therapies and targeted biologics advance, understanding which patients are most likely to benefit becomes essential.

 

Connecting genetic and clinical evidence can help identify disease subtypes with shared mechanisms and clarify unmet needs that are not apparent in fragmented data. It can also support more inclusive research by examining how variant prevalence and disease expression differ across populations.

 

The future of kidney disease research will depend on moving beyond isolated data sources towards integrated evidence that reflects real patient journeys. By combining a growing clinicogenomic dataset with subscription-based analytics, clinical trial services and collaborative reporting, RenasightIQ™ is helping researchers and developers generate deeper insight and advance the next generation of kidney disease therapies.

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