EmergingMed Granted Patent

NEW YORK, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Patent Office issued Patent No. 7,711,580, A System and Method for Matching Patients With Clinical Trials, to EmergingMed on May 4, 2010.

The patent covers a system and method for matching patients with clinical trials and particular trial sites, prequalifying patients for clinical trials and trial sites, and providing information to patients to allow them to inform themselves about available clinical trials and trial sites.

"The growth of targeted therapies as well as molecular diagnostics and gene expression profiling raises the complexity of finding clinical trials and personalized health information quickly, accurately, and confidentially," says Dr. Karen Moffitt of Florida Cancer Trials.  "EmergingMed's system simultaneously solves this problem for Florida's physicians and investigators, and most importantly our patients."

"AstraZeneca understands how challenging it can be for a patient or caregiver to navigate the multitude of information sources that exist for oncology clinical trials, let alone to identify trials that may be an appropriate match for themselves or a loved one," said Edward Mannello, Director of Clinical Study Recruitment, AstraZeneca. "For that reason, AstraZeneca has collaborated with EmergingMed because of the unique service they can provide to patients--a customized tool that helps them find trials that may be best matched to their specific needs."

"LIVESTRONG is proud to partner with EmergingMed on our SurvivorCare program," added Andy Miller, Executive Vice President of Mission for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  "EmergingMed is instrumental in providing comprehensive support to people affected by cancer through their unique clinical trials education and matching program, their commitment to the cancer community, and their ability to respond to the needs of those affected by cancer."  

EmergingMed's phone and web-based matching system is featured by more than 50 patient advocacy organizations, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and medical centers including Lance Armstrong Foundation, Pfizer, Genentech, AstraZeneca, EMD Serono, Enzon, CarisMPI, Ohio State University, the State of Florida, and POETIC.

"Trial sponsors and research sites utilize EmergingMed's customized solutions to find targeted patient populations, to ensure routine prescreening of all patients, and to analyze the suitability of their clinical trials for their specific patient populations," added Courtney Hudson, CEO.  "Our long-term follow-up with patients allows us to track outcomes, identify barriers, and empower patients to consider clinical trials each time a treatment decision is needed."  

EmergingMed said that although it will vigorously protect its intellectual property rights, it is seeking to broadly distribute its matching services beyond oncology to include other disease areas.

About EmergingMed

EmergingMed provides personalized clinical trial matching, referral support, education and long-term follow-up with patients on behalf of patient advocacy organizations, medical centers, pharmaceutical & biotech companies, and the State of Florida. Founded in 2000, EmergingMed has offices in New York, NY and Durham, NC.   For more information, call 1-877-601-8601 ext. 230 or write to [email protected].

SOURCE EmergingMed