NEW YORK, NY, September 26, 2019—In a major move, Deerfield Management Company, L.P.  is investing $635 million to create a transformative life sciences campus in New York City, designed to integrate the capabilities of innovators from academia, government, industry and the not-for-profit sectors to tackle unmet needs in healthcare. Deerfield additionally announced that it intends to commit more than $2 billion in research and seed funding by 2030 to develop much-needed new and innovative medicines and treatment solutions.  Deerfield expects this world-class infrastructure and funding to contribute to the prevention, cure or management of dozens of still deadly and debilitating diseases.  

As the foundation of this bold undertaking, Deerfield has acquired the 345 Park Avenue South property, which boasts more than 300,000 square feet. The site, designated a NYCLifeSci campus, will bring together scientists, entrepreneurs and leading organizations from around the world to work shoulder-to-shoulder to conceive of and develop new treatments and better ways to prevent and defeat disease. The campus will provide turnkey laboratories, and engineering and computing space, as well as other amenities and supportive services.  

“We are proud to be part of a community of people in New York who strive to save and extend lives. Creating an environment in which innovative thinking, ground-breaking advances in scientific discovery and where the development of new paradigms of patient care will occur every day is tremendously exciting,” said James Flynn, Managing Partner of Deerfield.  

“We are thrilled that our partnership with Deerfield will not only create quality jobs for New Yorkers but will also help provide a home for emerging companies to develop breakthrough scientific discoveries. New York City already has the best research institutions in the world. By investing in this Life Sciences campus to bring new lab space and programming for healthcare and early-stage biotech companies, we can strengthen the City’s position as a global leader in life sciences,” said NYCEDC President & CEO James Patchett.

The $540 million in financing for the acquisition and renovation of this world-class facility was led by Blackstone Real Estate, which has been a strong supporter of life sciences.  

Nadeem Meghji, Senior Managing Director, Head of Real Estate Americas at Blackstone said, “We are thrilled to finance this important project, which will advance life sciences research in New York City. With our investment in BioMed Realty, and elsewhere across our businesses, life sciences is among our highest priority investment sectors. We look forward to continuing to support the growing demand for research and innovation.”

The building construction and programming is being backed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Industrial Development Agency. It is expected to be in move-in ready condition for Deerfield and other innovators in healthcare by early 2021.

Due to obstacles, including a lack of capital and siloed approaches, promising new therapies and improvements in care management frequently fail to make it to patients. In addition to leveraging the value of public and private organizations in developing solutions, the Deerfield innovation campus will pursue all forms of technology, including digital, medical device and biotherapeutic approaches.  

“Many leaders have come together to build this incredible ecosystem, capable of accelerating the fight against disease. This campus should create the ideal backdrop to advance innovation,” said Alex Karnal, Partner and Portfolio Manager at Deerfield. “We are grateful to our partners, including the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Blackstone, as without them, this ambitious project might not have been possible.”

Having proven its ability to mobilize innovators in this space, MATTER, a healthcare focused incubator, in collaboration with Deerfield, will be supporting startups of all stages within the innovation campus.  MATTER has developed extensive specialized programs to train C-suite executives in the early stages of their career and to introduce young companies to established organizations for mentorship, collaboration and potential acquisition.  Combined with Deerfield’s operating support capabilities which extends to legal, finance, information technology, human resources, and market research, among other skillsets, companies formed within the campus will have unparalleled access to capabilities of the highest quality at low cost.

“Deerfield’s expertise and resources, combined with MATTER’s capabilities and experience, will create a healthcare and life sciences campus unlike any other,” said MATTER CEO Steven Collens. “We are thrilled to be a part of this endeavor to help entrepreneurs and innovators develop technologies and solutions that will improve the healthcare experience.”

Along with new educational programming being developed—and to complement the services provided by MATTER—Deerfield also announced that it will be growing its existing Deerfield LifeSci NYC Fellows and Break into the Boardroom programs. Deerfield additionally introduced a new initiative, Women in Science, focused on training women on how to commercialize their potentially lifesaving discoveries and create companies. The investment company has a rich history of developing and leading programs supporting diversity.

About Deerfield

Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy.

For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com

Contacts

Deerfield Management Company
Karen Heidelberger, 212-551-1600
[email protected]

New York, NY – February 6, 2019 – Deerfield Management advanced healthcare initiatives globally in 2018 through five new academic collaborations, eight scientific publications, and 22 philanthropic partnerships. Deerfield’s intent is to participate in large scale efforts to enrich patients’ lives with early stage discovery support, novel peer-reviewed insights, and investments that can help tackle the issues affecting healthcare today.

Deerfield Academic Collaborations

In 2016 Deerfield began collaborating with academic institutions to create partnerships that provide funding and support to early stage therapeutics. Since then, Deerfield has developed nine companies across eight states developing expeditious pathways from concept to commercialization for novel therapeutic discoveries and one incubator focused on innovative cardiovascular devices.

Anticipating commitments of over $500 million in early stage research by 2021, Deerfield is uniquely positioned to support all stages of development from early stage to commercial opportunity. This capability has the potential to eliminate the hurdles researchers would face in finding new capital during this rigorous trajectory to the marketplace.

Deerfield Institute

Deerfield Institute’s research capabilities and survey analyses sparked the need to begin publishing its scientific findings for the greater good. Since 2015, the Deerfield Institute has published 50 articles,editorials, and abstracts. Whether it is identifying predictors of laparoscopic hysterectomy among leiomyoma patients or exposing the variability in the therapeutic management of advanced ovarian cancer patients, the publications are weighted in scientifically driven research and analysis and leverage the knowledge interpreted by Deerfield’s team of healthcare focused researchers.

“We have a sense of responsibility to share our insights and equip our ecosystem with the high quality, novel information required to accelerate and improve healthcare,” stated Alexis Cazé, partner and chief information officer at Deerfield. “Through collaboration, we ultimately increase the greater potential of improvement in the healthcare system.”

Deerfield Foundation

Since inception the Foundation has committed or invested approximately $40 million to 39 philanthropic partners that impact healthcare for children and families from underserved communities. In 2018, the Foundation reached 11 countries with 77% of its annual funding directed towards services,goods, and outreach, 12% to infrastructure and 11% to R&D.

The Foundation has recently been exploring new models and is increasingly interested in designing granting programs with measurable impact.Whether this means pay-for-performance or key performance indicators, creating business models that lead to a self-funding business can result in self-sustaining organizations that can thrive in any philanthropic environment. “Deerfield realized the importance of exploring pay-for-performance models by pioneering our Results Based Financing for Community Health pilot,” stated Lisa McCandless from Living Goods. “Since Deerfield’s commitment, Living Goods has propelled to the forefront of this initiative globally and continues to share its learnings and findings with the broader community.”A list of our academic collaborations from 2016 to 2018 are below:

1. Center for Protein Degradation with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
2. Pinnacle Hill with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
3. Poseidon Innovation with UC San Diego
4. Lakeside Discovery with Northwestern University
5. Ancora Innovation with Vanderbilt University
6. Academic collaboration with Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
7. Bluefield Innovations with the Johns Hopkins University
8. Bridge Medicines with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Rockefeller University, and Weill Cornell Medicine
9. Vescor with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

A sample of the peer reviewed publications, reviews and abstracts published in 2018 are listed below:

1. A Hybrid Approach for Prediction of Event Times in Double-Blind Clinical Trials. Ming Zhu, Yunnan Xu, Zheng Su. Joint Statistical Meeting 2018
2. Predictors of laparoscopic hysterectomy for leiomyoma surgical removal in the United States. Kate Busko, Mark Stuntz. Value in Health / ISPOR
3. Analysis of Success Rates for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s New Technology Add-On Payment Program. Alexandra Truglio, Christine Livoti. Value in Health / ISPOR
4. Trends in isolated mitral valve surgery: the changing risk profile of patients and outcomes. Andrew Elbardissi, Mark Stuntz. European Society of Cardiovasculaire and Endovasculaire Surgery International Congress 2018
5. The importance of emerging transcatheter mitral valve technologies in cost-effectiveness and post-procedure outcomes. Andrew Elbardissi, Mark Stuntz. European Society of Cardiovasculaire and Endovasculaire Surgery International Congress 2018
6. Impact of adverse media reporting on public perceptions of the doctor-patient relationship in China: an analysis with propensity-score matching. Jing Sun, Shiyang Liu, Qiannan Liu, Zijuan Wang, JunWang, Cecile Jia Hu, Mark Stuntz, Jing Ma, Yuanli Liu. BMJ Open, August 2018
7. Potential role of emerging percutaneous mitral technologies in patients undergoing TAVR. Andrew ElBardissi, Mark Stuntz. JACC, September 2018
8. Futility stopping in non-inferiority trials. ZhengSu, Mark Stuntz. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, December 2018.

In 2018, the Deerfield Foundation invested in the following projects with its philanthropic partnerships:

1. Children’s Health Fund. Deerfield Child and Family Health Clinic and New York Program,providing high quality, comprehensive and compassionate patient-centered healthcare for underserved children and families.
2. Coalition for the Homeless. Child Advocate to assist homeless families in New York City.
3. Covenant House. Wellness center support: medications/supplies, mental health services,and staff training on mental health and best practices.
4. Jacaranda Health. Support launch of a “nurse mentor training center” to build a pipeline of public sector maternity nurse champions and improve obstetric care in Kenya.
5. Last Mile Health. Continue scale-up of Liberia’s National Community Health Assistant Program, cost-effectiveness study in Grand Bassa County and launch of the Community Health Academy’s first online, free, digital training course for community health system leaders.
6. Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service. Environmental Health Services Program and Maternity Outreach Program.
7. Living Goods. Digital optimization of business practices – enabling transformational scale for community health.
8. Lwala Community Alliance. Every child: strengthening health systems to reduce maternal and child mortality.
9. Many Hopes. Provide physical and mental healthcare as well as a nutritious diet for orphans and abandoned children in its rescue homes and school.
10. Medic Mobile. Scaling digital health tools for improved community-level care coordination in Nepal.
11. Mifanmama. Eye Care Outreach Program.
12. Muso. Proactive care delivery: rigorous implementation of research to save lives and support Mali’s National Community Health Worker scale-up.
13. Northside Center for Child Development. Expand Northside’s capability to treat mental health issues in children age five and under.
14. Partners In Health (Zanmi Lasante). Operating costs for Zanmi Beni Children’s home.
15. Possible. Designing and scaling accessible, integrated healthcare solutions for underserved communities in Nepal.
16. Réseau Des Entrepreneurs Solidaires. Deerfield RES Madagascar: support approximately 31 medical centers and dispensaries run in Madagascar.
17. St.Boniface Haiti Foundation. Materials and staffing for the pediatric services ward of the St. Boniface Hospital in Fond des Blancs, Haiti.
18. Sustainable Health Enterprises. Initial funding of SHE28’s technological innovations to produce go! pads for girls and women.
19. The Family Center. Training and certification of six clinical staff members in Parent Child Interaction Therapy.
20. The Mott Haven Academy. PNP services and medical clinic support, and contributions to establish and develop adolescent health programming in its middle school.
21. The Water Trust. Scaling-up the Self-Help Group Program and publishing findings to provide children in East Africa safe water and healthy homes.
22. Village Health Works. Equipping the pediatric and maternity unit of the Kigutu Hospital and Women’s Health Pavilion.

About Deerfield

Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to improving healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy.

For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com

Contacts

Deerfield Management Company
Karen Heidelberger,212-551-1600
[email protected]

Drug and device development requires extensive expertise, is costly, and time consuming. In particular, the need for deep expertise in many disciplines means there is a market value for those skill sets, and sometimes those exist in the private sector, but many times, in academia. The relationship between academia and industry is both praised and criticized, but unavoidable as increasingly complex diseases are tackled by both parties. As a result, many academics also have some kind of corporate relationship, be it as a trial investigator, a consulting or advisory role, or a speaker’s bureau slot, to name a few examples. As these relationships merit payment, critics feel industry payments erode away at academics’ ability to offer unbiased opinions and expertise, precipitating the need for some kind of disclosure.

Putting aside the details of the most recent example of a debate over conflict of interest (COI) out of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), much of which has already been detailed elsewhere[1], the response suggests disclosure is not only preferred but necessary, though the who, how, and why have yet to be hammered out. Medical journals and some specialty societies may require the data, but do not have uniform criteria for the reporting of industry ties (whether by physicians or sponsors) nor a readily identifiable platform for prospective patients or industry observers to view what relationships physicians may have.

The most comprehensive source of information is the Open Payments database maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS).^[2] Applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations are required to annually submit relevant payment information to physicians and teaching hospitals to CMS, and CMS subsequently allows physicians and those hospitals to review the reported payments for accuracy. Payments for research, meals, travel, gifts, and speaking fees are all required to be reported.

While the most comprehensive, there are some notable exemptions to the Open Payment database, which some argue are loopholes asking to be closed. Companies that do not yet have a marketed product approved by the Food and Drug Administration do not have to report payments, meaning many small biotech companies working on their very first product are not reporting to the database.  Additionally, continuing medical education (CME) payments are also exempt, though some argue CME is simply another avenue for industry to market their new launches and pipelines.

Referring to the recent MSKCC news, medical ethicist Dr. Arthur Caplan publicly commented “We have yet to figure out what COI means or how to manage it in a health care world where industry ties are everywhere”^[3] which is likely the best succinct encapsulation of the status quo. It is unknown what payment threshold might influence physician decision making (whether perceived or actual), but there is also some intangible value to physicians who serve as investigators on cutting edge clinical trials and serve on advisory boards alongside the top minds in their fields, who in turn can provide better care for their patients. It would be wrong to suggest that all interactions between industry and physicians are either unethical or inappropriate, but we can, and should, do better at reporting them.

[1]   https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/health/memorial-sloan-kettering-cancer-disclosure.html

[2] https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/

[3] https://twitter.com/ArthurCaplan/status/1038849711174762499

Objectives

To quantify the approval, denial, and withdrawal rates and identify any predictors of success or failure for all new technology add-on payment (NTAP) applications from FY 2003 to FY 2018 in the United States.

Methods

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) releases inpatient payment methodology rulemaking annually in the Federal Register, including details of NTAP submissions. The proposed and final rulemaking documents were analyzed to quantify the approval, denial, and withdrawal rates of all applications and determine primary reasons for denial or withdrawal from FY 2003 to FY 2018. Raw data were coded to further examine any predictors of application success such as product type, therapeutic category, manufacturer type, reapplication status, and proposed rule determination.

Results

There were 95 NTAP applications submitted over the last 15 fiscal years. Approximately 30%, 25%, and 45% of applications were approved, withdrawn prior to final rule, or denied, respectively. Inability to meet the “newness criteria” developed by CMS was the primary reason for denied and withdrawn applications. Product type, therapeutic category, and reapplication status have minor to significant impact on the approval rate of an application. However, manufacturer type and proposed rule determination have little to no impact on application outcome.

Conclusions

While there are a few factors that may positively influence the outcome of a NTAP application, the approval rates for the program are low overall. Without additional reimbursement from the NTAP program, inpatient hospitals may be deterred from adopting innovative therapies because of financial burdens. CMS and manufacturers should strive to find a better consensus for a framework that adequately incentivizes the utilization of new technologies for Medicare beneficiaries.

NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — DFB Healthcare Acquisitions Corp. (NASDAQ: DFBHU) (“DFB Healthcare”) announced today that it closed its initial public offering of 25,000,000 units. The offering was priced at $10.00 per unit, resulting in gross proceeds of $250,000,000.

The Company’s units began trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker symbol “DFBHU” on February 16, 2018. Each unit consists of one share of the Company’s common stock and one-third of one warrant, each whole warrant enabling the holder thereof to purchase one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the common stock and warrants are expected to be listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker symbols “DFBH” and “DFBHW”, respectively.

DFB Healthcare is sponsored by Deerfield/RAB Ventures, LLC, which was jointly founded by Deerfield Management Company L.P. (“Deerfield”) and DFB Healthcare’s management team, led by CEO Richard Barasch. Deerfield is an investment firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, and its investment activity spans both public and private securities. Mr. Barasch has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare services, health insurance, and related industries, and was CEO of Universal American Corp. from 1995 until the Company’s acquisition by WellCare Health Plans in April 2017.

Goldman Sachs & Co. and Deutsche Bank Securities acted as joint book runners for the offering and Leerink Partners acted as co-manager. DFB Healthcare has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,750,000 units at the initial public offering price to cover overallotments, if any.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with, and declared effective by, the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 15, 2018. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. The registration statement can be obtained at www.sec.gov.

About DFB Healthcare Acquisitions Corp.

DFB Healthcare Acquisitions Corp. is a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. It has not identified any business combination target and has not, nor has anyone on its behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with respect to identifying any business combination target. Its acquisition and value creation strategy will be to identify and acquire a business in the healthcare sector.

The offering was made only by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained from Goldman, Sachs & Co., Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, or by telephone toll-free at 1-866-471-2526 or by email at [email protected], from Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Attention: Prospectus Group, 60 Wall Street, New York, New York 10005-2836 (Tel: (800) 503-4611; Email: [email protected]), and from Leerink Partners LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, MA 02110, by telephone at 800-808-7525, ext. 6132 or by email at [email protected].

Contact

DFB Healthcare Acquisitions Corp.
Chris Wolfe, (212) 965-2400
[email protected]

New York, NY – January 16, 2018 – For the third year in a row, Deerfield has fulfilled its commitment to research in healthcare through the publication of articles, reviews and abstracts, which total over 40 since 2015. In addition, Deerfield has set up strategic collaborations with renowned organizations such as Friends Of Cancer Research (FOCR) and the Peking Union School of Public Health (PUSPH). The aim of these collaborations is to jointly publish information that addresses US and China health needs.

The peer‐reviewed publications, reviews and abstracts published in 2017 are listed below:

1. Consumer satisfaction with tertiary healthcare in China: findings from the 2015 China National patient survey. Sun J, Hu G, Ma J, Chen Y, Wu L, Liu Q, Hu J, Livoti C, Jiang Y, Liu Y. Int J Qual Heath Care, 2017; 29(2):213‐221
2. Considerations on Bringing Warehoused HCV Patients into Active Care Following Interferon‐Free, Direct‐Acting Antiviral Drug Approval. Palak A, Livoti C, Audibert C. Postgrad Med, 2017;129(4):471‐475
3. Investment and incentives in 21st Century pharmaceutical research in Europe: the cost of opportunity. Morgese P. The European File, March 2017.
   https://www.europeanfiles.eu/magazine/medicines‐future‐how‐to‐sustain‐pharmaceuticalinnovation‐and‐improve‐access‐and‐affordability
4. Global perspective on colonoscopy use for colorectal cancer screening: a multi‐country survey of practicing colonoscopists. Audibert C, Perlaky A, Glass D. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications volume 7, September 2017, pages 116‐121.
5. Reducing waiting time and raising outpatient satisfaction in a Chinese public tertiary general hospital – an interrupted time series study. Sun J, Lin Q, Zhao P, Zhang Q, Xu K, Chen H, Hu C, Stuntz M, Li H, Liu Y. Lancet ‐ CASM conference Abstract, and BMC Public Health, 2017;17:668
6. Trends in the molecular diagnosis of lung cancer, results from an online marker research survey. Audibert C, Shea MB, Glass DJ, Kozak ML, Cazé A, Hohman RM, Allen JD, Sigal EV, Leff JS. A Friends Of Cancer Research White Paper, July 2017.
   https://www.focr.org/sites/default/files/pdf/FINAL%202017%20Friends%20NSCLC%20White%20Paper.pdf
7. Nationwide trends of clinical characteristics and economic burden of emergency department visits due to acute ischemic stroke. Stuntz M, Busko K, Irshad S, Paige T, Razhkova V, Coan T. Open Access Emerg Med, 2017 Sep 19;9:89‐96
8. Is it time for the weighted log‐rank test to play a more important role in confirmatory trials? SuZ, Zhu M. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, September 17, 2017.
9. Variability in the therapeutic management of advanced ovarian cancer patients: a 5‐country survey of oncologists. Audibert C, Perlaky A, Stuntz M, Glass D. Drug Des Dev Ther, 2017;.11:3471‐3479.
10. Treatment sequencing in advanced BRAF‐mutant melanoma patients: current practice in the United States. Audibert C, Stuntz M, Glass D. Journal of Pharmacy Technology, 2017 published online December 4.
11. Persisting disparities between sexes in outcomes of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm hospitalizations. Stuntz M, Audibert C, Su Z. Scientific Reports, 2017; 10.1038/s41598‐017‐18451‐2 (SREP‐17‐46111)
12. A review of promoting access to medicines in China – problems and recommendations. Sun J, HuC, Stuntz M, Hogerzeil H, Liu Y. Accepted by BMC Health Services Research.

About Deerfield

Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy.

For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.

Contacts

Deerfield Management Company
Karen Heidelberger, 212-551-1600
[email protected]

New York, NY – December 21, 2017 – Deerfield announced today the publication of “Persisting disparities between sexes in outcomes of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm hospitalizations” in the journal Scientific Reports. Scientific Reports is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal from Nature Research. This is one of 12 articles written by Deerfield this year that has been published in peer reviewed journals.

The article, written by Deerfield Institute’s Mark Stuntz, Céline Audibert and Zheng Su, examines the discrepancies between the sexes in outcomes of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (rAAA). Deerfield showed that although the incidence and mortality for rAAA has generally improved over time for both males and females, discrepancies still exist between the male and female population. Its findings revealed that females remain at a higher risk of in-hospital death than males and are less likely to undergo rAAA repair. In fact, even if females did receive surgery, they were more likely to have fatal outcomes. This article is intended to stimulate further exploration of gender based differences in the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms with the goal of improving outcomes.

About Deerfield

Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy.

For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.

Contacts

Deerfield Management Company
Karen Heidelberger, 212-551-1600
[email protected] 

The article can be found at http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-18451-2

Purpose

This research proposes a framework to detect adverse drug reactions using Internet user search data, so that adverse drug reaction events can be identified early. Empirical investigation of Avandia, a type II diabetes treatment, is con-ducted to illustrate how to implement the proposed framework.

Design/methodology/approach

Typical adverse drug reaction identification measures and time series processing techniques are used in the proposed framework. Google Trends Data is employed to represent user searches. The baseline model is a disproportionality anal-ysis using official drug reaction reporting data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Adverse Event Re-porting System (FAERS).

Findings

Results show that Google Trends series of Avandia side effects search reveal a significant early warning signal for the side effect emergence of Avandia. The proposed approach of using user search data to detect adverse drug reactions is proved to have a longer leading time than traditional drug reaction discovery methods. Three more drugs with known adverse reactions are investigated using the selected approach, and two are successfully identified.

Research limitations/implications

Validation of Google Trends data’s representativeness of user search is yet to be explored. In future research, user search in other search engines and in healthcare web forums can be incorporated to obtain a more comprehensive adverse drug reaction early warning mechanism.

Practical implications

Using Internet data in drug safety management with a proper early warning mechanism may serve as an earlier signal than traditional drug adverse reaction. This has great potential in public health emergency management.

Originality/value

Our research work proposes a novel framework of using user search data in adverse drug reaction identification. User search is a voluntary drug adverse reaction exploration behavior. Further, user search data series are more concise and accurate than text mining in forums. The proposed methods as well as the empirical results will shed some light on incor-porating user search data as a new source in pharmacovigilance.

New York, NY – January 30, 2017 – Since 2015, Deerfield Management Company has contributed to advancing healthcare through the publication of 29 articles, editorials and abstracts. These publications are based on scientifically driven market research, development of novel approaches to constructing and analyzing clinical trials, and activities central to the analysis of markets and policy across the healthcare field. 

Deerfield believes that dissemination of novel findings could benefit academic,industrial and governmental organizations interested in understanding patient characteristics, improving patient care, speeding therapies to market, and optimizing healthcare policy. 

As an illustration of the impact of such publications in the healthcare policy environment, the September 2016 publication entitled “Use of FDA-Approved and Laboratory-Developed Tests in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Results of a Retrospective Market Analysis” was used during a one-hour Senate briefing on the future of precision medicine and patient care: current landscape of genomic testing that took place on October 13, 2016, and organized by Friends of Cancer Research.

The  peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations produced in 2016 are listed below:

1. The Prevalence of Peyronie’s Disease in the United States: A Population-Based Study. M. Stuntz M, A. Perlaky, F. des Vignes, T. Kyriakides, D. Glass.PLoS ONE 11(2): e0150157.
2. Awareness of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and associated practice patterns of primary care physicians and specialists. S. Polanco-Briceno, D. Glass, M.Stuntz, and A. Caze. BMC Research Notes 2016 9:157.
3. Epidemiology of Low Dose Aspirin Use for Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. M. Stuntz. Cardiology Vol. 134, Suppl. 1, 2016.
4. Mitral valve disease in the United States: retrospective analysis of hospitalizations and surgical procedures using the National Inpatient Sample. M. Stuntz. Cardiovascular Disease.Cardiology Vol. 134, Suppl. 1, 2016. 
5. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: Physicians’perceptions of patient treatment with recently approved drugs. C. Audibert, C. Livoti, A. Caze. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications Volume 3, 15 August 2016, Pages 80–85.
6. Modeling the burden of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in the United States in 2013. M. Stuntz. Cardiology 2016; 135:127-131.
7. Building a drug development database:challenges in reliable data availability. C. Audibert, M. Romine, A. Caze, G. Daniel, J. Leff, and M.McClellan. Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy 2016 Aug 24:1-5.
8. Use of FDA-Approved and Laboratory-Developed Tests in Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer: Results of a Retrospective Market Analysis.C. Audibert, M. Shea, D. Glass, M. Kozak, A. Caze, R. Hohman, J. Allen, E.Sigal, J. Leff. 2016ASCO Annual meeting, Abstract # e20532 and Personalized Medicine in Oncology, September 2016, Vol. 5, No. 7.
9. Neuroendocrine tumor liver metastases treated with yttrium-90 radioembolization. K. Fan, A. Wild, V. Halappa, R. Kumar, S. Ellsworth, M. Ziegler,T. Garg, L. Rosati, Z. Su, A. Hacker-prietz, T. Pawlik, D. Cosgrove, K. Hon, I.Kamel, J-F. Geschwind, and J. Herman. Contemporary Clinical Trials Volume 50,September 2016, Pages 143–149.
10. Recent Trends in Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Volume in the United States. M. Stuntz and A. Palak. Value in Health. November 2016 Volume 19,Issue 7, Page A641.
11. Epidemiology of Chronic Kidney Disease and Predictors of Hyperkalemia: Analysis of Nhanes 2007–2014. M. Stuntz and C. Livoti. Value inHealth. November 2016 Volume 19, Issue 7, Pages A516–A517.
12. Press releases for Phase 2 clinical trial topline results: Have the objective pre-specified efficacy results been disclosed? Z. Su and C. Livoti. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications Volume 4, 15 December 2016, Pages A1–A2.
13. A Brief Patent Primer. M. Shtilerman and J. Eng Jr.BiotechBlog. December 5, 2016.
14. Recent trends in the prevalence of low-dose aspirin use for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in the United States, 2012–2015.M. Stuntz and B.Bernstein. Preventive Medicine Reports.
15. Communication practices and awareness of resources for acromegaly patients among endocrinologists. S. Polanco-Briceno, D. Glass and C.Plunkett. Patient Preference and Adherence. 2016; 10:2531-2541.

Deerfield will continue to contribute findings and insights to the public domain in 2017.

About Deerfield

Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy.

For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.

Contacts

Deerfield Management Company
Karen Heidelberger, 212-692-7140
[email protected]

Science and engineering graduate students usually do not learn about patents and the patenting process during their formal coursework. However, even as a junior researcher it is possible to create patentable intellectual property that could eventually be the subject of lucrative patent licenses. This article discusses some fundamental aspects of patents and the patenting process to provide a brief introduction for scientists and engineers.