Show HN: Ranking every disease (the unmet needs index) (insights.convoke.bio)

Convoke has launched a comprehensive Unmet Needs Index that ranks approximately 2,400 human diseases based on their unmet medical needs, aiming to guide drug developers in identifying critical areas for therapeutic intervention. By employing large language models (LLMs), Convoke analyzed data from various public ontologies and scored each disease across multiple dimensions such as burden, efficacy, safety, convenience, and pipeline activity. This systematic approach not only highlights diseases that require new treatments but also fosters awareness among researchers and clinicians about overlooked medical issues. The significance of this index lies in its potential to inform drug development strategies by revealing diseases that may not be immediately visible to pharmaceutical companies, driven often by personal anecdotes or highly publicized cases. The weightings applied to the scores—from the severity of untreated conditions to the logistical challenges of current treatments—help prioritize therapeutic areas based on objective data rather than anecdotal evidence. As an evolving resource, the index could play a pivotal role in shaping future research agendas, targeting truly unmet medical needs, and ultimately improving patient outcomes.