Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) Extends Strategic Partnership with TARGET PharmaSolutions for TARGET-NASH

TARGET PharmaSolutions announced that Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) has extended its strategic partnership for TARGET-NASH to a multi-year agreement.  Bristol-Myers Squibb is committed to the discovery and development of medicines for fibrosis, including NASH.

TARGET-NASH is a longitudinal observational study that evaluates patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). TARGET-NASH is collecting retrospective and prospective data on its enrolled patients and is developing a biorepository which its stakeholders can access for translational studies (including those of genomics and biomarkers).  To date, TARGET-NASH has enrolled over 2,364 patients at 55 sites.  There have been multiple presentations on TARGET-NASH at leading academic conferences and a methodology publication is currently in press. TARGET-NASH will enroll up to 15,000 patients over the coming years.  TARGET-NASH is led by an academic steering committee chaired by Drs. Arun Sanyal, MD (Virginia Commonwealth University); Ken Cusi, MD (University of Florida), and Brent Tetri (St. Louis University).

Meg Powell, CEO of TARGET PharmaSolutions, stated “We are pleased to extend our partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb for TARGET-NASH. We believe this is a testament to the long-term value the TARGET model generates for our industry partners throughout the development and commercialization process, including benefits for Research, Clinical, Regulatory, Medical Affairs, Commercialization, Marketing, Health Economics and Outcomes groups.”

TARGET PharmaSolutions provides insights and actions to improve clinical, medical, and commercial outcomes throughout the pharmaceutical development and commercialization process.  The TARGET model organizes a community of stakeholders, including pharmaceutical manufacturers, key opinion leaders, regulatory agencies, and patient advocacy groups, around a specific disease to generate real world evidence about the natural history of the given disease, current treatment paradigm, and patient outcomes.  This model enables TARGET’s stakeholders to answer critical strategic and planning questions and to fulfill regulatory and payer requests.  The TARGET model also provides access to a biorepository linked to validated clinical outcomes, including patient reported outcomes (PROs).

TARGET PharmaSolutions was formed in February, 2015 and has four disease communities: TARGET-NASH (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis), TARGET-PBC (primary biliary cholangitis), TARGET-HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma), and TARGET-IBD (inflammatory bowel disease). The TARGET model is based on the success of HCV-TARGET, a case study in Hepatitis C. Formed in 2011 by Drs. Michael Fried, MD (University of North Carolina) and David Nelson, MD (University of Florida), HCV-TARGET has enrolled over 11,000 patients and has generated data that has been used by physicians, payers, and regulatory agencies around the world.