RALEIGH, NC, April 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – PRA Health Sciences (NASDAQ: PRAH) today announced that Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, known in the United States as EMD Serono, chose the PRA remote patient monitoring platform for work in combination with the human growth hormone (HGH) treatment system. Under this agreement, the PRA remote patient monitoring platform supports Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s HGH treatment system, including growlinkTM, a mobile app for patients prescribed HGH treatment, and easypod® Connect, a secure platform for health care professionals (HCP) in the endocrinology field to monitor patient adherence, review injection history, and share information about the progress of patients with growth hormone disorder.
“Patients and payers expect us to offer new technologies, such as treatment support applications, with the highest levels of privacy and data security,” said Andre Musto, Senior Vice President and Head of Cardiovascular Metabolism & Endocrinology, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. “With growlink and easypod Connect, supported by the PRA remote patient monitoring platform, we can offer patients innovative tools to help manage their condition and assure payers of the effective use of care while fully respecting the privacy and security of their data.”
Human growth hormone treatment is often prescribed for children and adolescents with growth hormone deficiency, a condition that affects an estimated 1: 4,000 to 1: 10,000 children1 each year in the US Despite the prevalence of growth hormone deficiency and treatment options, one of the biggest challenges is ensuring patient adherence to the regimen. Adding this layer of technology to HGH treatments facilitates better patient engagement, helps healthcare professionals make better use of patient visits, and ensures treatment is carried out regularly and at the right dose, optimizing treatment outcomes and encouraging payer trust.
In the real world, HCP will use easypod Connect to invite patients to download the mobile app, growlink. Then the patient downloads the mobile application, signs the eConsent form in the application, and synchronizes the application with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, the German HGH injector medical device, easypod. The device is capable of self-adjusting the appropriate HGH dosage based on treatment protocols. The four-part system – Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, German mobile app (growlink), connected device (easypod), and the HCP platform (easypod Connect) supported by PRA remote patient monitoring technology – allows HCP to see an accurate picture of patient adherence height, weight, and other outcomes while offering patients a more comfortable way to follow a treatment regimen and manage their condition.
“For many years, PRA has focused on designing an end-to-end digital health platform that supports the delivery of mobile health services, such as remote patient monitoring,” said Kent Thoelke, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, PRA Health Sciences. “Our collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to support growlink and easypod Connect is an example of how the industry is growing with patients at the center of our innovation.”
PRA organizes a webinar called, How Digital Therapy and Remote Patient Monitoring Can Drive Differentiation of Pharmaceutical Products, to help create differentiation. Access today’s webinar replay.
For more information on PRA remote patient monitoring solutions, visit www.prahs.com.
1 Stanley T. Diagnosis of Growth Hormone Deficiency in Children. HHS Public Access. Available in https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3279941/
About PRA Health Sciences
PRA Health Sciences is one of the world’s leading global contract research organizations by revenue, providing clinical development services and data outsourcing solutions for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. PRA’s global clinical development platform includes more than 75 offices in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, Australia and the Middle East, as well as more than 19,000 employees worldwide. Since 2000, PRA has participated in approximately 4,000 clinical trials worldwide. In addition, PRA has participated in important or supportive trials that resulted in the US Food and Drug Administration or international regulatory approvals for more than 95 drugs. To learn more about PRA, please visit www.prahs.com.
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