Aetion Evidence Platform Validates New Indications for Marketed Drugs Through In Silico Drug Repurposing Study

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Jul 12, 2018, 15:00 ET

NEW YORK, July 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Aetion ^®, the software platform company delivering the real-world analytics and evidence needed for biopharma and payers to engage in value-based care, today announced new peer-reviewed findings published in N ature Communications. The study demonstrates the Aetion Evidence Platform™ can reliably confirm the predicted new drug-outcome relationships on a large scale.

"We efficiently screened hundreds of new uses for more than 700 FDA-approved drugs with interactome network analyses and used the Aetion Evidence Platform to efficiently and reliably confirm or refute signals with real-world data analyses," said Sebastian Schneeweiss, M.D., Sc.D., Aetion co-founder and professor at Harvard Medical School. "These results show the Aetion Evidence Platform facilitates and accelerates drug repurposing, improves success rates of studying drug effectiveness for new indications in humans, while decreasing development cost."

The study — led by Joseph Loscalzo, M.D., Ph.D., Brigham and Women's Hospital's chairman of the Department of Medicine and professor of medicine at Harvard — validated two network-based predictions: carbamazepine was associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD), and hydroxychloroquine was associated with a decreased risk of CAD. The work used two large health care databases with longitudinal data on more than 220 million patients and propensity score matching techniques.

"Network-based drug analyses that identify likely repurposing targets can be validated with the Aetion Evidence Platform. The platform allows us to facilitate drug repurposing efficiently and identify previously unrecognized adverse drug effects," said Dr. Loscalzo. "This novel approach builds on previous mechanistic research and drug development efforts, and, ideally, may help plan clinical trials, speed up the regulatory approval process, and integrate new, approved indications of existing and safe medications into treatment protocols."

The Aetion Evidence Platform's rapid-cycle analytics™ uses everyday clinical and financial interactions of the health care system, including data from claims and electronic health record systems, to unlock essential evidence about the effectiveness and value of clinical interventions.

"I am proud of the value the Aetion Evidence Platform provides to companies seeking expanded labels," said Carolyn Magill, chief executive officer of Aetion. "The opportunity for drug repurposing is vast. With Aetion, researchers can efficiently validate safe and effective new uses for existing drugs to improve health outcomes."

About Aetion
Based in New York City, Aetion is a leading health care technology company that delivers the real-world analytics and evidence needed for pharmaceutical developers and purchasers to thrive in value-based care. With its patented rapid-cycle analytics technology, the Aetion Evidence Platform uses the everyday clinical and financial interactions of the health care system to unlock essential evidence about the effectiveness and value of medical treatments. Founded by Harvard Medical School faculty members and a big data pioneer, Aetion enables biopharma companies and payers to collaborate in real-time to develop therapeutic insights so patients get the most clinically effective — and cost-effective — care. Learn more at www.aetion.com.

SOURCE Aetion