Flatiron Health and Roche are significant forces in healthcare and technology. Flatiron Health has emerged as a leader in health technology, specifically focusing on oncology. Roche is a global pharmaceutical and diagnostics company with a long history of innovation. Their combined efforts aim to reshape cancer care and research.
Flatiron Health’s Role in Oncology
Flatiron Health, established in 2012, collects, organizes, and analyzes real-world data (RWD) from electronic health records (EHRs) within oncology practices. The company’s OncoEMR® system is a proprietary cancer-specific electronic medical record that captures patient data during routine clinical practice. This includes structured data, such as diagnoses and treatments, and unstructured data, like physician notes, which are then curated using a combination of machine learning and human review.
RWD provides insights into how treatments perform in diverse patient populations outside of controlled clinical trials. Flatiron’s de-identified database contains over 4 million patient records, supporting research into natural history, unmet medical needs, treatment effectiveness, and safety. This robust data collection and curation helps accelerate drug development, inform clinical practice, and improve patient outcomes by turning patient experiences into actionable evidence.
Roche’s Strategic Vision in Healthcare
Roche is a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, with over 125 years of experience. Its strategic goals center on personalized healthcare, aiming to provide the right treatment to each patient effectively. This vision involves integrating diagnostic solutions, medicines, and digital products to enhance research and development efforts across the entire patient journey, from prevention and screening to diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring.
Roche is committed to scientific excellence, focusing on discovering and developing medicines and diagnostics that improve and save lives. The company integrates data and digital solutions, such as AI-driven algorithms in digital pathology, to gain deeper insights into disease mechanisms and deliver precise diagnoses. This positions Roche to leverage technological advancements for comprehensive, individualized healthcare.
The Acquisition and Its Collaborative Purpose
In 2018, Roche acquired Flatiron Health for approximately $1.9 billion, building on an existing equity stake. This acquisition was a strategic move to accelerate the use of real-world evidence (RWE) in cancer research and drug development. Daniel O’Day, then CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals, emphasized that regulatory-grade RWE is a key component in expediting new cancer treatments.
The collaboration’s purpose is to advance oncology research and improve patient care through data-driven insights. Flatiron’s expertise in curating high-quality, regulatory-grade RWD from community oncology practices and academic medical centers complements Roche’s knowledge in drug discovery and development. This integration creates synergy, allowing for faster and more informed decisions in developing new medicines. Flatiron Health continues to operate as an independent affiliate of the Roche Group, serving a broad range of partners.
Impact on Cancer Research and Patient Care
The partnership between Flatiron Health and Roche is expected to advance cancer research by leveraging comprehensive real-world data. This collaboration identifies new treatment pathways and understands drug effectiveness in diverse patient populations, extending beyond traditional clinical trials. Flatiron’s data has contributed to over 1,000 research publications, supporting advancements like expanded therapy options for men with breast cancer and more convenient dosing for lung cancer patients. The ability to extract biomarkers and real-world endpoints using AI from unstructured data further enhances research capabilities.
The collaboration also aims to improve patient care by enabling more informed clinical decisions and facilitating access to better therapies. By integrating Flatiron’s data with Roche’s expertise, the partnership can help tailor treatments based on individual patient characteristics and genetic makeup, moving towards personalized healthcare. This vision aims to transform oncology by continuously learning from every patient’s experience to improve outcomes and broaden accessibility to clinical trials in community settings.