Transforming Patient Support in the Digital Age of Gene Therapy
[Author:
TOM DOUGLAS | Executive Director, Digital Patient Support Solutions]
Commercial Growth Today
After attending the 2nd annual Gene Therapy Patient Engagement Summit in Boston last week, it looks like gene therapy is finally on its way to becoming a realistic option for many patients. Given the need to keep pace with an increasing demand aligned with an understanding of unmet challenges, combined with the potential for standardization, and the need to strategize for accelerating patient access needs, gene therapies are here to stay. Additionally, the unprecedented demand and inflated funding for COVID-19 vaccines enabled a ten to 100-fold increase in the production of products targeting rare diseases, when adjusted by dose amount.
Trends in Patient-Centric Care & Education
What’s in?
- Educational resources for patients and caregivers considering gene therapy
- Unbranded and unbiased education
- Disease-state agnostic
- Format tailored to the needs of the community
- Delivered in partnership with patient advocacy organizations
What’s out?
- Product specific resources
- Materials specific to certain disease communities
- General medical advice to replace a discussion with a HCP
- Besides the obvious medical benefits, experts are just realizing the massive impact such genetic treatments could have on their patients’ quality of life. This new generation of gene therapies might transform patient care as we know it.
Why Medocity
At Medocity, our mission is to develop long-term and integrated digital support for patients to help them stay on track with their treatment and result ultimately in improved clinical and commercial outcomes for all market customer segments, Today, our digital platform is actively being utilized by industry as a unique solution to address the unmet needs present for both gene therapies and rare diseases. First, it is much more than a platform as it is a universal and customizable rare disease ecosystem for patient-centric care. Not to mention it’s robustness as well as we are connecting patients, care teams, support communities, advocacy groups and associations. Within this network, we are able to provide support, monitoring, education, and resources that positively encourage adherence to prescribed therapies.
Once data is captured within the ecosystem, we can generate unique insights into the patient treatment process, experience and quality of life. This includes analyzing and interpreting real world data elements (RWE) and an improved understanding to enable superior treatment protocols (which could potentially lead to enhanced label claims).
With access to these data points and insights, a company can now leverage a better understanding of the disease state, natural history, and patient behavior to influence policy coverage, early screening, and reimbursement. Other benefits include access to targeted patient pools to support a drug launch (through our digitally-enabled ecosystem), and clinical trial support such as patient screening, qualification, and monitoring.
The Road Ahead
Today’s gene therapy progress provides real hope; something crucially missing in many rare disease communities. For the time being, holding on to that optimism is worth a lot. Who knows, restoring sight, preventing paralysis, and cheating death once sounded like miracles. However, gene therapy is making these kinds of strides possible thanks to massive scientific and technological advancement. Doors are opening, and we are excited to see what’s next and continue to help make a positive difference.