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The collaboration is designed to empower patients to take control of their health and focuses on a number of therapeutic areas. First, for patients in Finland suffering from the two main inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) conditions, ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), and then for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
During 2020, the platform will also be made available for UC and RA patients in Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland and Austria, with plans to expand the reach.
At Pfizer we are committed to enabling health living, and as part of this we are constantly looking for new partners and digital solutions that can significantly improve the lives of patients, said Rob Day, Western Europe Cluster Lead, Inflammation and Immunology Group at Pfizer.
Partnering with digital experts such as Sidekick will further support Pfizer’s breakthrough therapies in an area where the burden of disease among patients is significant.
The platform provides patients with a rich user experience, where they are motivated to manage their nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress and medication adherence. They also receive educational information on their condition and are linked to a community of healthcare professionals and other patients who can share relevant health expertise and experiences.
Pfizer continues to be at the forefront of the transformation of medicine, and we share their vision to empower people to better manage their own health and improve their quality of life, Sidekick co-founder and chief executive officer Dr. Tryggvi Thorgeirsson said.
Our partnership with Pfizer has the potential to help a vast number of people do just that across multiple geographies, and as such, is precisely what we created Sidekick to do.
“We founded the company six years ago with a strong belief that digital health solutions could and would expand the reach and impact of traditional treatment of chronic disease. Over the past six years, we have seen the world taking significant steps towards such a future, and this collaboration is an exciting example of that on a large scale,” he added.
For IBD alone, it is estimated that there are as many as three million sufferers in Europe, costing up to €5.6 billion per year in direct healthcare costs[i]. The societal costs are even greater in terms of diminished productivity[ii], as well as psychological issues, such as anxiety and depression[iii]. These indirect costs place a significant economic burden on society – in the case of ulcerative colitis this is up to 68% of the total cost[iv], with the true cost more likely to be in the tens of billions of euros. By providing patients with the ability to better manage their own health, with ongoing information and support, it allows them to tailor their care. Beyond the potential patient benefits, this could also result in a reduction of the impact of autoimmune diseases on healthcare organizations.
To help address the patient, societal and economic burden, Pfizer and Sidekick sought input from stakeholders via several patient panels as well as through collaboration with patient advocacy groups and key opinion leaders to maximize the impact of the platform.
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