Allergan Partners with SonarMD® to Develop Innovative IBS-D Patient Engagement Platform for Better Identification and Care of IBS-D Patients

DUBLIN, Oct. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) announced today a collaboration with SonarMD^®, a leader in population health management, on the development of clinical decision support (CDS) and patient engagement tools which can be used to facilitate physician identification of patients suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Diarrhea (IBS-D) in clinical practice and monitor their treatment outcomes. Moreover, the companies will establish a patient engagement platform which can be used to evaluate symptoms and health outcomes among patients with IBS-D in a real-world clinical setting.

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This platform allows healthcare practitioners to securely engage, monitor, and manage IBS-D patients between visits via ongoing health assessments evaluating patient symptoms, quality of life, and treatment impacts. Data from these assessments can alert physicians to any change in a patient's condition that may require intervention, which could lead to improved health outcomes for patients and decreased costs of care. This platform will also provide an opportunity to generate real-world data on the impact of current treatment options for patients with IBS-D.

SonarMD is the developer of a cloud-based care management platform – created by noted gastroenterologist Lawrence Kosinski, MD, MBA and Managing Partner, Illinois Gastroenterology Group – that supports improved patient access, care coordination and healthcare management for patients with chronic illnesses. The SonarMD platform delivers care management algorithms to help providers and patients dramatically improve the management of chronic diseases in the new era of value-based care. SonarMD has previously applied this technology to support patients with Crohn's Disease, combining the use of clinical metrics derived from CDS tools with patient reported outcomes.

Allergan and SonarMD will leverage the Sonar platform for use with IBS-D patients with the goal of optimizing efficient diagnosis and effective use of treatment options to manage IBS-D in clinical practice. This represents the first application of the SonarMD platform for IBS.

"The collaboration with SonarMD is a further demonstration of Allergan's long-term commitment to improving the lives of patients with IBS-D through better patient care and access to innovative treatments," said Gavin Corcoran, M.D., chief medical officer, Allergan. "The sooner patients can be effectively identified and diagnosed, the sooner they can receive the treatments they need to alleviate the burdensome symptoms of IBS-D."

"Traditionally, the limited diagnostic and therapeutic options available for patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, combined with the reluctance of those patients to discuss their symptoms with healthcare practitioners, has presented a major barrier to providing them with the most effective care. The collaboration between SonarMD and Allergan is focused on developing tools which will help providers more efficiently identify IBS-D patients, deliver quality care and, simultaneously, foster meaningful patient engagement," said Jonathan Rosenberg, SonarMD's Medical Director. "I am excited about the potential for this project to generate meaningful patient reported data which will lead to better care outcomes for all IBS-D sufferers through more effective care delivery from their providers."

About IBS-D

Irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) is a functional bowel disorder characterized by chronic abdominal pain and frequent diarrhea, which affects approximately 15 million patients in the U.S.  Although the exact cause of IBS-D is not known, symptoms are thought to result from a disturbance in the way the gastrointestinal tract and nervous system interact.

IBS-D can be debilitating and there are limited therapeutic options for managing the chronic symptoms. IBS-D is associated with economic burden in direct medical costs and indirect social costs such as absenteeism and lost productivity, along with decreased quality of life.

About SonarMD^®

SonarMD, a Rolling Meadows, Illinois based Delaware LLC, is committed to the development of Care Management Algorithms for the management of patients with chronic disease. Its leadership team combines some of the nation's top leaders in clinical medicine with the technology strength of Mutare, Inc. Together they intend to bring the leadership and tools for providers to succeed in Population Health and deliver better patient outcomes. For more information, visit sonarmd.com or call 847-370-8878.

About Allergan plc

Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical company and a leader in a new industry model – Growth Pharma. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceuticals, devices and biologic products for patients around the world.

Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and best-in-class products for the central nervous system, eye care, medical aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, women's health, urology and anti-infective therapeutic categories.

Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science, the Company's R&D model, which defines our approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care.  This approach has led to Allergan building one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry with 65+ mid-to-late stage pipeline programs in development.

Our Company's success is powered by our more than 16,000 global colleagues' commitment to being Bold for Life. Together, we build bridges, power ideas, act fast and drive results for our customers and patients around the world by always doing what is right.

With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives.

For more information, visit Allergan's website at www.Allergan.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

Statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current perspective of existing trends and information as of the date of this release. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the risks associated with acquisition transactions; the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Allergan's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 (such periodic public filings having been filed under the "Actavis plc" name) and from time to time in Allergan's other investor communications. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE Allergan plc

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