Patients To Share Their Experiences, Help Researchers Better Characterize Disease
And Develop Treatment Strategies
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—August 5, 2014—PatientsLikeMe and Actelion Ltd. (SIX: ATLN) are partnering in a research initiative to create a new patient-reported outcomes tool for the rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma called MF-CTCL. The collaboration will leverage PatientsLikeMe’s Open Research Exchange (ORE), an online hub for developing and sharing new health measures that better reflect patients’ experiences living with and managing disease.
Actelion is the first pharmaceutical company to use ORE to create a measure for a rare condition and, once completed, to share it with other researchers. Actelion’s Senior Director – Medical Head of VALCHLOR and ZAVESCA Mitchell Nagao said he believes this open approach to research will enhance the existing evidence about MF-CTCL. “As changes in technology, culture, and treatment affect how patients live with disease, we want measurement to evolve accordingly. Our work with PatientsLikeMe will help ensure we’re applying the best principles for patient-centered research and giving tools back to the community so they can evolve them even more.”
PatientsLikeMe Vice President of Innovation Paul Wicks said the project further reinforces that ORE is a proven platform for developing new patient-based measures. “We created ORE to help patients and researchers work together to transform care and discovery that truly serve the patient. Now we’re past the initial pilot stage, and it’s exciting to see members of industry engaging with patients to develop more tools that really measure what matters to patients.”
Actelion will work with PatientsLikeMe to engage people who have MF-CTCL for support and research and to develop and test the tool. PatientsLikeMe welcomes anyone with MF-CTCL who is interested in contributing to join in at www.patientslikeme.com.
Cutaneous (skin) T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) are non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas that primarily involve the skin but can also involve the lymph nodes, blood and other organs. Mycosis fungoides (MF-CTCL) is the most common type of CTCL.
About Actelion Ltd.
Actelion Ltd. is a leading biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative drugs for diseases with significant unmet medical needs. Actelion is a leader in the field of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Our portfolio of PAH treatments covers the spectrum of disease, from WHO Functional Class (FC) II through to FC IV, with oral, inhaled and intravenous medications. Although not available in all countries, Actelion has treatments approved by health authorities for a number of specialist diseases including Type 1 Gaucher disease, Niemann-Pick type C disease, Digital Ulcers in patients suffering from systemic sclerosis, and mycosis fungoides type cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Founded in late 1997, with now over 2,400 dedicated professionals covering all key markets around the world including Europe, the US, Japan, China, Russia and Mexico, Actelion has its corporate headquarters in Allschwil/Basel, Switzerland. Actelion shares are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker symbol: ATLN) as part of the Swiss blue-chip index SMI (Swiss Market Index SMI®). All trademarks are legally protected.
About PatientsLikeMe
PatientsLikeMe® (www.patientslikeme.com) is a patient network that improves lives and a real-time research platform that advances medicine. Through the network, patients connect with others who have the same disease or condition and track and share their own experiences. In the process, they generate data about the real-world nature of disease that help researchers, pharmaceutical companies, regulators, providers, and nonprofits develop more effective products, services and care. With more than 250,000 members, PatientsLikeMe is a trusted source for real-world disease information and a clinically robust resource that has published more than 50 peer-reviewed research studies. Visit us at www.patientslikeme.com or follow us via our blog, Twitter or Facebook.
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Contacts
Samantha Cummis
Actelion USA
+1 650.808.6615
samantha.cummis@actelion.com
Margot Carlson Delogne
PatientsLikeMe
+1 781.492.1039
mcdelogne@patientslikeme.com
