PRA’s remote patient monitoring platform selected by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to work in combination with its human growth hormone treatment system

PRA’s cloud-based infrastructure enables Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to deliver a better product experience and scale for future enhancements

RALEIGH, N.C. , April 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRA Health Sciences (NASDAQ: PRAH) announced today that Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, known in the United States as EMD Serono, selected PRA’s remote patient monitoring platform to work in combination with its human growth hormone (HGH) treatment system. Under this agreement, PRA’s remote patient monitoring platform backs Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s HGH treatment system, including growlink^TM, a mobile app for patients prescribed with HGH treatment, and easypod® Connect, a secure platform for healthcare professionals (HCP) in the field of endocrinology to monitor patients’ adherence, review injection history, and share information about patients’ progression with growth hormone disorder.

"Patients and payers expect us to offer new technologies, such as treatment-supporting apps, with the highest levels of privacy and data security,” said Andre Musto, Senior Vice President and Head of Cardiovascular Metabolism & Endocrinology, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. "With growlink and easypod Connect, supported by PRA’s remote patient monitoring platform, we can offer patients innovative tools to help manage their condition and assure payers of the effective use of treatments while fully respecting their privacy and data security.”

Human growth hormone treatments are frequently prescribed for children and adolescents with growth hormone deficiency, a condition that impacts approximately 1:4,000 to 1:10,000 children¹ each year in the U.S. Despite the prevalence of growth hormone deficiency and treatment options, one of the biggest challenges is ensuring patients’ adherence to the regimen. Adding this layer of technology to HGH treatments better facilitates patient engagement, helps HCPs make better use of patient visits, and ensures the treatment is taken regularly and at the right dosage, optimizing treatment outcome and driving payer confidence.

In a real-world setting, an HCP would use easypod Connect to invite patients to download the mobile app, growlink. Then the patient downloads the mobile app, signs an eConsent form on the app, and syncs the app with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s HGH injector medical device, easypod. This device is able to self-regulate the appropriate dosage of HGH based on the treatment protocol. The four-part system – Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s mobile app (growlink), connected device (easypod), and HCP platform (easypod Connect ) underpinned by PRA’s remote patient monitoring technology – enables HCPs to see an accurate picture of patients’ adherence, height, weight, and other outcomes while offering patients a more convenient way to follow to their treatment regimen and manage their condition.

"For many years, PRA has been focused on designing an end-to-end digital health platform that supports mobile healthcare delivery, such as remote patient monitoring,” said Kent Thoelke, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, PRA Health Sciences. "Our collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to support growlink and easypod Connect is an example of how the industry is advancing with the patient at the center of our innovation.”

PRA hosted a webinar called, How Digital Therapeutics and Remote Patient Monitoring Can Drive Pharmaceutical Product Differentiation, to help create differentiation. Access the replay webinar today.

For more information about PRA’s remote patient monitoring solutions, visit www.prahs.com.

¹ Stanley T. Diagnosis of Growth Hormone Deficiency in Childhood. HHS Public Access. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3279941/

About PRA Health Sciences

PRA Health Sciences is one of the world’s leading global contract research organizations by revenue, providing outsourced clinical development and data solution services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. PRA’s global clinical development platform includes more than 75 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, Australia and the Middle East and more than 19,000 employees worldwide. Since 2000, PRA has participated in approximately 4,000 clinical trials worldwide. In addition, PRA has participated in the pivotal or supportive trials that led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration or international regulatory approval of more than 95 drugs. To learn more about PRA, please visit www.prahs.com.

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