PatientsLikeMe, the US-based online platform for the exchange of health data, has entered into a five-year collaboration with Genentech that will look for innovative ways to research patients’ real-world experience with disease and treatment.
Under the agreement, which PatientsLikeMe said was its first broad research collaboration with a pharmaceutical company, Genentech will be making use of PatientsLikeMe’s Global Network Access, a new service for pharmaceutical companies that includes:
- Access to the PatientsLikeMe network, enabling cross-sectional research and broader discovery of patient insights.
- Enhanced customised research services and capabilities.
- Focused research projects to evaluate and develop new medical-evidence measures and health standards.
- Access to PatientsLikeMe’s clinical-trial awareness tool for patients.
PatientsLikeMed said the relationship with Roche would also give it the opportunity to expand its patient network in oncology.
True centre
Jamie Heywood, the network’s co-founder and chairman, said Genentech’s leadership and commitment to “a world where patient experience drives the way diseases are measured and medical advances are made” would move patients closer to “the true centre of healthcare”.
According to Genentech, partnering with PatientsLikeMe will allow the company to “learn more from patients with serious diseases and better integrate their insights into our decision-making”.
The hope is that “our participation will encourage broader engagement of others involved in the delivery of healthcare and support a stronger voice for patients”, commented Dr Bruce Cooper, senior vice president, medical affairs at Genentech.
