BlueRock Therapeutics to use Rune Labs' clinical trial platform to better characterize Parkinson's disease state in cell therapy trials

• Rune Labs launches StriveStudy clinical development platform to streamline enrollment, enable real world evidence (RWE) generation, monitor patient compliance with a study, and improve patient study experience
• Cell therapy developer BlueRock is first to deploy StriveStudy, in conjunction with Rune Labs' StrivePD platform, to remotely collect real-time patient data and monitor patient compliance in research study

SAN FRANCISCO, March 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --  Rune Labs, a precision neurology software and data platform company, today announced a partnership with BlueRock Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company and wholly-owned, independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG. BlueRock will use StriveStudy, Rune Labs' clinical trial platform featuring data collection and patient monitoring tools, to capture a holistic and precise picture of Parkinson's disease activity and to better engage patients in the study.

The partnership is the first deployment of Rune Labs' StriveStudy clinical trial platform, which enables more efficient studies of disease-modifying therapeutics to treat movement disorders. BlueRock will leverage Rune Labs' Apple Watch-enabled data collection and remote patient monitoring tools in a non-interventional study, providing real-world, continuous capture of Parkinson's symptom data using Rune Labs' 510(k)-cleared technology.

Rune Labs' StriveStudy platform will capture multimodal data from people with Parkinson's to gain a better understanding of individual disease experience and build a dataset to characterize baseline symptom activity. BlueRock can leverage StriveStudy to monitor patient compliance by tracking how often they wear the Apple Watch in the study, as well as to improve the study experience for patients by streamlining data collection.

"Parkinson's disease research has been limited in the past because there is no easy-to-measure, singular set of symptoms that each patient experiences – people with Parkinson's have a wide array of symptoms that vary from person to person and frequently fluctuate. Historically, clinical researchers have used patient-reported questionnaires to assess symptoms, but they're a subjective tool that fails to capture the dynamic nature of the disease," said Rune Labs CEO Brian Pepin. "Together, BlueRock and Rune Labs will remotely collect longitudinal and objective data directly from patients to create a comprehensive image of Parkinson's symptoms. By establishing a baseline symptom dataset, we will be able to fully capture the benefits of novel advanced therapies, increasing the efficiency of clinical trials in the future."

This partnership paves the way for Rune Labs to streamline and enhance subsequent trials of BlueRock's first-in-class stem cell-based therapy bemdaneprocel (BRT-DA01). BlueRock will be able to incorporate baseline and follow-up data collected via StriveStudy, including dyskinesias, into subsequent data analysis, thereby enabling a deeper understanding of BRT-DA01's therapeutic benefit.

"Up until now, clinical trials have relied on patients with Parkinson's disease to self-report their symptoms. Now, thanks to new technologies like Rune Labs' platform, we have new tools to measure and assess disease progression," said Seth Ettenberg, President and CEO of BlueRock Therapeutics. "We look forward to exploring with Rune Labs how objective and continuous measurements of disease progression can help us develop more effective therapies to treat Parkinson's disease."

Rune Labs' clinical trial platform, StriveStudy, is available to biopharmaceutical companies working in the movement disorders space. Learn more about services included in StriveStudy here.   

About Rune Labs
Rune Labs is a software and data analytics company for precision neurology, supporting care delivery and therapy development. StrivePD is the company's care delivery ecosystem for Parkinson's disease, enabling patients and clinicians to better manage Parkinson's by providing access to curated dashboards summarizing a range of patient data sources, and by connecting patients to clinical trials. For therapeutics development, biopharma and medical device companies leverage Rune's technology, network of engaged clinicians and patients, and large longitudinal real-world datasets to expedite development programs. The company has received financial backing from leading investors such as Eclipse Ventures, DigiTx, TruVenturo and Moment Ventures. For more information, please visit runelabs.io and strive.group.

About BlueRock Therapeutics LP 
BlueRock Therapeutics LP is a clinical stage cell therapy company focused on creating cellular medicines to reverse devastating diseases. Our cell+gene platform is harnessing the power of cells to create a pipeline of new medicines for patients suffering from neurological, cardiovascular, immunological, and ophthalmic diseases. Our lead clinical program, bemdaneprocel, (BRT-DA01) is in Phase 1 clinical trials for Parkinson's disease. We were founded in 2016 by Versant Ventures and Bayer AG and became a wholly owned, independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG in late 2019 as a cornerstone of its newly formed Cell & Gene Therapy Platform. Our culture is defined by the courage to persist regardless of the challenge, the urgency to transform medicine and deliver hope, integrity guided by mission, and community-mindedness with the understanding that we are all part of something bigger than ourselves. For more information, visit www.bluerocktx.com 

Media contacts:
Consort Partners for Rune Labs
[email protected]

SOURCE Rune Labs