After leading an investment in patient data firm Seqster in Feburary, Takeda is broadening its partnership with the company. The drugmaker reached an agreement with Seqster to use its platform for clinical trials and patient engagement.
Seqster pulls in information from patients’ electronic health records, genomic data and wearable data across different health systems. Its CEO, Ardy Arianpour, has described the company as the Mint.com of healthcare. The San Diego-based startup claims to have more than 3,000 healthcare providers using its services.
Through the extended partnership, Seqster will give Takeda access to the company’s decision support system and research platform. The goal is to reduce the time it takes to consent patients and bring in data during clinical trials, and improve patient engagement.
“By leveraging Seqster and extending Takeda’s external data and digital collaboration ecosystem, we will have better access to real-world evidence, integrating real-time into our workflows generating powerful data and insights for research and patient services,” Dr. Emir Roach, head of emerging technologies and digital partnerships for Takeda, said in a news release.
With in-person visits disrupted at the beginning of the pandemic, Covid-19 has accelerated drugmakers’ adoption of virtual clinical trials. Earlier this month, Takeda announced a five-year plan to become a “cloud first” company, striking partnerships with Amazon Web Services and Accenture. As part of that plan, it launched a secure data sharing and clinical trial platform for the COVID R&D Alliance—a group of biopharma companies working to develop potential treatments for Covid-19.
“Our technology will help Takeda accelerate transforming clinical development in the post-COVID era, improving patient engagement and services, and streamlining safety and efficacy demonstration,” Arianpour said in a news release. “By serving as one of Takeda’s collaborators in their digital ecosystem, Seqster is positioned as a leading patient-centric technology to help patients in their healthcare journey.”
Photo credit: Gerasimov174, Getty Images
