Author: jezzabellemente

PRA’s Mobile Health Platform delivers virtual solutions for sites and patients enrolled in trials

RALEIGH, N.C., March 25 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As a response to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, PRA Health Sciences announced today the expansion of its industry-leading Mobile Health Platform for remote clinical monitoring, adding several new capabilities that address sponsor needs for COVID-19 virtual study support.

PRA’s Mobile Health Platform (MHP) engages with patients wherever they are. The app-based platform allows sponsors to do everything that’s possible in a physician’s office or clinical site, virtually. The new capabilities added to address COVID-19 are designed to support clinical trial sponsors and sites participating in clinical studies by allowing them to connect and coordinate with patients who are no longer able to travel to sites due to the current pandemic. Additionally, the mobile app can also be deployed to transition existing traditional, paper-based studies into more decentralized, siteless studies so that medical care and the evaluation of patients can continue during critical study timeframes.

The mobile app features an administrative web app for investigators and sites, and a downloadable mobile app for patients, enabling sites to:​

· eConsent/re-consent patients for use of the mobile application​
· Collect consent forms from patients to allow for delivery of investigational product through a third party courier​
· Remotely schedule and conduct video consults with patients​
· Leverage mobile survey tools to provide real-time insights to study investigators for potential action

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it will be increasingly difficult for patients to see their medical professionals in person or adhere to clinical study protocols requiring visits to sites and hospitals. Equally challenging and difficult is the ability for sites to keep up with both trial patients as well as COVID-19 patients,” said Kent Thoelke, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at PRA Health Sciences. “This mobile and remote solution allows critical studies to continue, where protocols and regulatory guidelines permit, and ensures that patient safety and wellbeing can be maintained during a time when social distancing and relieving the burden on our healthcare system is important in fighting COVID-19.”

The mobile app has the ability to gather electronic informed consent and e-signatures, and complete patient reported outcomes — right from the patient’s personal phone or tablet. Using connected devices, the app also can collect home healthcare data and serve that data into the source for the clinical trial.

PRA’s Mobile Health Platform is built with each specific trial in mind and can be rapidly deployed in as little as one week or less. Depending on the disease state, the patient population, and sponsor targets, PRA’s clinical technology experts will help determine what features are most applicable for each particular hybrid or decentralized trial.

To learn more about the PRA Mobile Health Platform, visit https://prahs.com/pra-mobile-health-platform. Contact our team here: https://prahs.com/contact/virtual.

ABOUT PRA HEALTH SCIENCES

PRA (NASDAQ: PRAH) 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, South Africa, Australia and the Middle East and more than 17,500 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.

INVESTOR INQUIRIES: InvestorRelations@prahs.com

MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Laurie Hurst, Director, Communications and Public Relations
HurstLaurie@prahs.com, +1.919.786.8435

SOURCE: PRA Health Sciences, Inc.

—BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — Japan’s Kagoshima City is presenting a music video in several foreign languages for overseas viewers to commemorate the city’s 130th anniversary.

According to a statement, the music video has been released on YouTube to promote the city’s attractions and new theme song, ‘Kagoshima into the Future’.

The song, released in November 2019, portrays some of the great points that showcase Kagoshima City, starting with the symbols of Kagoshima, the active volcano Sakurajima and the scenic and tranquil Kinko Bay.

Composed and arranged by Kagoshima-born Ryo Yoshimata, the song also conveys the city’s abundant nature, strength that spurred Japan’s modernisation and the splendour the city offers to international tourists.

Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX2rzPTonD8 with English, Chinese (traditional & simplified), Korean, Thai and Vietnamese subtitles which are available.

— BERNAMA

Announces Preclinical COVID-19 Research Tools

RENSSELAER, N.Y., March 23 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Taconic Biosciences, a global leader in providing drug discovery animal model solutions, announces support for global COVID-19 research efforts via a new Coronavirus Toolkit featuring relevant models and services.

Mouse models have been extensively used for research on the SARS-CoV virus, closely related to the new SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.  Taconic offers many animal models and services to support COVID-19 research and empower the global fight against this disease. 

Taconic’s Coronavirus Toolkit models are grouped by application: COVID-19 disease models, antibody development and production, and vaccine research and development.

The toolkit includes several proprietary models, one example being an Ace2 knockout mouse available to Taconic through our partnership with inventor Lexicon Pharmaceuticals.  Ace2 knockout mice are used to study acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a COVID-19 complication.  Taconic and Lexicon have partnered to scale production of this strain with subsidized distribution to researchers worldwide.  A second example includes genetically humanized HLA (human leukocyte antigen) mice, which are better able to model human vaccine response compared to standard mice.  Finally, Taconic is one of only a few companies in the world which can produce humanized immune system mice on scale, which carry human immune cells in a mouse.

Beyond models, Taconic’s colony management solutions also offer relief to laboratories faced with restrictions, staff reductions, or temporary closures.Cryopreservation services are offered at a highly competitive price to ensure the security of valuable genetically modified models for the future.  As research priorities change, Taconic also encourages researchers to consider custom model generation as a path to move research forward without requiring extensive internal human resources.  Taconic has the most comprehensive, fully-licensed gene modification toolkit in the industry.

“Taconic is proud to contribute to the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic.  We take our mission to provide animal model solutions seriously and are committed to empowering COVID-19 research,” shared Nancy J. Sandy, Taconic Biosciences’ chief executive officer. “We are investing significant resources to make these critical models available to enable immediate studies.”

To learn more about Taconic Biosciences’ Coronavirus Toolkit, please contact Taconic at 1-888-TACONIC (888-822-6642) in the US, +45 70 23 04 05 in Europe, or email info@taconic.com.

About Taconic Biosciences, Inc.

Taconic Biosciences is a fully-licensed, global leader in genetically engineered rodent models and services. Founded in 1952, Taconic provides the best animal solutions so that customers can acquire, custom-generate, breed, precondition, test, and distribute valuable research models worldwide. Specialists in genetically engineered mouse and rat models, microbiome, immuno-oncology mouse models, and integrated model design and breeding services, Taconic operates three service laboratories and six breeding facilities in the U.S. and Europe, maintains distributor relationships in Asia and has global shipping capabilities to provide animal models almost anywhere in the world.

Media Contact: Kelly Owen Grover
Director of Marketing Communications
(518) 697-3824
kelly.grover@taconic.com

Source: Taconic Biosciences

—BERNAMA

Three-tiered, mobile-app driven program tracks individuals’ physical and psychological symptoms from COVID-19

RALEIGH, N.C., March 23 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PRA Health Sciences announced today the commercial availability of the COVID-19 Monitoring Program, a mobile app-driven, tiered initiative that allows employers, payers, providers and health systems to track the health and wellbeing of individuals who may be asymptomatic, exposed or diagnosed with COVID-19 during the pandemic.

Based on an individual’s COVID-19 disease status, they are assigned to one of three groups:

• The educational program, which provides vital sign tracking, prevention techniques and mental health support for those who are asymptomatic.
• The quarantine program, which delivers insights on what to watch for, addresses feelings of fear and isolation, and connects with a healthcare professional for those who have been exposed to COVID-19.
• The in-depth monitoring program, which addresses symptom management, frequent monitoring by a healthcare professional and care coordination for those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and who are still at home.

By downloading the program’s app on their personal mobile devices, participants in the program will be able to report key health metrics related to COVID-19 such as body temperature, heart rate and pulse oximetry. In addition, participants report on symptoms of COVID-19 like shortness of breath, fatigue and changes in coughing. Participants benefit from PRA’s nurse-led clinical call center staff, who monitor the information reported through the app on a daily basis. The trained staff can address physical symptoms, as well as the social and psychological impacts they may be experiencing.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the critical need for organizations of all sizes to be able to remotely assist individuals in monitoring their health and wellbeing,” said Kent Thoelke, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at PRA Health Sciences. “Given the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are about to see our healthcare system and its infrastructure significantly stretched. With this program, individuals can have the peace of mind that they can connect with a healthcare professional from the comfort of their own homes while maintaining social distancing. Having the ability to interact with individuals remotely during this uncertain time is critical to maintaining the infrastructure and capability of the healthcare system as well as safety of patients and business continuity.”

The program, which was created by Care Innovations, a PRA Health Sciences company, can be deployed within days. Built on the cloud based Health Harmony Digital Health Platform, the program can also scale immediately and receive updated content as guidelines are changed.

PRA is deploying the COVID-19 Monitoring Program and mobile app to healthcare organizations, large employers, and the company is in discussions with academic institutions, governmental organizations, health departments and other private businesses to roll out the program.

For more information on the COVID-19 Monitoring Program, please contact Care Innovations at https://www.careinnovations.com/contact/ or by phone at 855-885-CARE.

ABOUT PRA HEALTH SCIENCES

PRA (NASDAQ: PRAH) 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, South Africa, Australia and the Middle East and more than 17,500 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.

INVESTOR INQUIRIES: InvestorRelations@prahs.com

MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Laurie Hurst, Director, Communications and Public Relations
HurstLaurie@prahs.com, +1.919.786.8435 

SOURCE : PRA Health Sciences, Inc.

Contributes to Government’s Efforts to Contain COVID-19 Outbreak

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) — As the government of Malaysia escalates measures to control the COVID-19 outbreak and medical centers come under tremendous pressure, WRP Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd (WRP) today contributed 102,000 medical-grade examination gloves to University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), as part of the company’s efforts to play a supportive role during these unprecedented times.

Despite the business challenges that WRP continues to face and address, the company indicated that with the anticipated growing demand for gloves and other medical supplies, it will proactively donate more gloves to the designated medical centres assigned to handle COVID-19 screening and treatment in the weeks ahead.

Special Counsel for WRP, Mathew Thomas Philip, who is the Founder and Managing Partner of Thomas Philip said, “Firstly, I would like to salute all the front liners, particularly the doctors, nurses, administrators, police and workers, who put themselves in the path of danger to protect the rest of us in the war against COVID-19.”

“Although WRP is still in the process of turning itself around, we did not want to stand behind when our nation is facing such a crisis and wanted to do our part. As WRP’s operations ramp up, we will expand our contributions and hope that many more Malaysian companies will come forward to do their bit,” he added.

WRP, which only restarted operations less than a month ago, is currently running at about a quarter of its capacity and will ramp up operations in phases to reach full capacity by the end of the year.

WRP Advisor on Regulatory Compliance and Security, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Musa bin Tan Sri Hj Hassan said, “Having been with the police forces for decades, I am acutely familiar with the risks and demands of working on the front lines. I hope today’s contribution will help those working at UMMC.”

“To further support our nation’s frontliners, I hope all will practice social distancing and follow the government’s directives on movement control to help us to contain this fast escalating situation. If we all do our part and if we follow these clear directives, Insya’Allah, we should be able to overcome this situation soon,” he concluded.

As a world-leading manufacturer and exporter of premium quality glove products, WRP has a strong track record of exporting its wide range of high-quality products to countries such as the United States of America, Canada, and Japan, which have stringent quality controls in place.

SOURCE: Chimera Brand Relations

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: 
Chimera Brand Relations
Name: Abiramy Chelvam
Tel: +60172763841
Email: abi@chimera.com.my

—BERNAMA