Roche joins forces with PatientsLikeMe
pharmafile | April 8, 2014 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Novartis, PatientsLikeMe, Roche, UCB, real-word data
PatientsLikeMe has set up a five-year agreement with Genentech, Roche’s biologics arm, to allow the firm access to patients’ real-world experience with disease and treatment.
The agreement is the first broad research collaboration between PatientsLikeMe and a pharma company, and provides the online patient portal the opportunity to expand its 250,000-strong network in oncology.
But this is certainly not the first deal between the group and a pharma firm, as its business strategy now relies on such deals.
The group already has ties with MSD on psoriasis, as well as Novartis and UCB. The Swiss company uses PatientsLikeMe as an online forum for post-transplant patients, whilst UCB uses it for bettering outcomes for people with epilepsy.
Both firms develop drugs for the disease and conditions they are discussing on PatientsLikeMe, and it is becoming both a new marketing tool for pharma, and a unique way of harnessing real-world data (RWD).
This type of website interface can develop into a goldmine for pharma firms, as it affords them an in-depth look into the patient population of a treatment, something it cannot easily attain anywhere else.
This latest deal with Roche is slightly different as it does not focus on a specific therapy area, but a much broader research pact, with the company hoping to understand the uses of RWD and the experiences of patients better.
This information could be used to better clinical trial outcomes and their design, as well helping the firm to ultimately create better drugs.
PatientsLikeMe co-founder and chairman Jamie Heywood explains: “We envision a world where patient experience drives the way diseases are measured and medical advances are made. Genentech’s leadership and commitment to this mission brings us closer to having patients at the true centre of healthcare.
“With Genentech we can now embark on a journey to bring together many stakeholders across healthcare and collaborate with patients in a new way.”
The five-year agreement provides Genentech the opportunity to use PatientsLikeMe’s Global Network Access, a new service for pharma companies that delivers a range of data, research and tools.
The service includes:
- Access to PatientsLikeMe’s network to enable cross-sectional research and broader discovery of patient insights
- Enhanced and bespoke research services and capabilities
- Focused research projects to evaluate and develop new medical evidence, measures and standards of health
- Access to PatientsLikeMe’s clinical trial awareness tool, which allows patients to learn about clinical trials.
Bruce Cooper, senior VP of medical affairs at Genentech, says: “At Genentech, we come to work every day with the goal of transforming patients’ lives. The collaboration with PatientsLikeMe will allow us to learn more from patients with serious diseases, and better integrate their insights into our decision-making.
“We hope our participation will encourage broader engagement of others involved in the delivery of healthcare and support a stronger voice for patients.”
Ben Adams
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