TOKYO, October 19, 2020 -- Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TOKYO: 4519) and Welby Inc. announced that they launched a patient support program to promote proper use of Tecentriq^®, an immune checkpoint inhibitor marketed by Chugai. The program is based on “Welby MyKarte ONC,” (hereafter, MyKarte ONC), a free personal health record (PHR) service by Welby to support treatment for cancer patients.

MyKarte ONC is a PHR service to support cancer patients and healthcare professionals. Patients can easily enter and access data on their daily symptoms and treatment status to centrally manage such information. Also, the program provides optimized information according to cancer types and symptoms based on the patient’s record. The PHR service aims at achieving better treatment outcome through these functions which will help patients deepen understanding of the treatment and assist healthcare professionals to see changes in patients’ conditions (including adverse reactions and worsening of symptoms) sooner.

With the use of MyKarte ONC, Chugai started to offer the patient support program as described below, starting from October 2020. The objective of the program is to promote proper use of Tecentriq in patients with breast cancer receiving therapy with Tecentriq. The safety profile of Tecentriq, including development of immune-related adverse events (irAE), is different from that of the conventional chemotherapies. Our key challenge, therefore, is the prevention of severe irAE by early detection and management. MyKarte ONC is a platform-based PHR service that can be used regardless of cancer types and medications. It provides proper information based on an individual patient’s health information recorded by the patient. The service will become available for lung and liver cancers in due course so that more patients can receive proper treatment with Tecentriq utilizing the unique advantage of the PHR service.

1) Self-check functions: Patients on treatment with Tecentriq can self-monitor if they have symptoms related to irAE which requires attention by using self-check functions offered by MyKarte ONC. If severe symptoms (according to PRO-CTCAE*) are recorded, a message will be displayed to urge the patient to contact a medical institution for telephone counseling, etc. In addition, the patient can report his/her conditions to the physician with the severity based on PRO-CTCAE. By performing the self-check on a regular basis, patients can raise their awareness of important adverse reactions and deepen their understanding of the disease.

* Patient-Reported Outcome Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events

2) Information service functions: For the patients who have selected “Tecentriq/breast cancer” as a drug they currently use when upon registration for MyKarte ONC, the information page on Tecentriq provided by Chugai will be displayed. The seamless access to the information page via MyKarte ONC will increase convenience in gaining information. Comments are also displayed according to the state of entries, which enables patients to further understand their treatments.

Image (Japanese only)

Reference: Introduction page for patients of "Welby MyKarte ONC" https://oncology.welby.jp/ (Japanese only)

“Under CHUGAI DIGITAL VISION 2030, we aim to transform our business by using digital technologies to make Chugai a top innovator in the provision of society-changing healthcare solutions. To achieve this goal, the Value Delivery functions of Chugai consisted of Drug Safety Division, Marketing & Sales Division, and Medical Affairs Division will collaborate to broaden the use of the PHR service,” said Satoko Shisai, Chugai’s Vice President, Head of Digital & IT Supervisory Division. “COVID-19 has brought rapid changes in our lifestyle. Similarly, the communication between patients and healthcare professionals will shift to contactless communication, including online clinical practice. Through this PHR service, patients can routinely record their daily status and share necessary information with healthcare professionals even under the situation where face-to-face communication is limited. In addition, it will contribute to realization of patient-centric healthcare by supporting patients to understand their treatments and proactively engage in their own treatment. Chugai will approach various needs in clinical settings by means of digital technologies, and continue to make efforts to realize patient-centric healthcare.”

Takeru Hiki, Representative Director of Welby, commented, “Welby launched MyKarte ONC service in February 2020 as a PHR platform to help patients on cancer therapies monitor symptoms to be noted according to their conditions and treatments, as well as access necessary information. It has already been introduced to multiple key partner hospitals for cancer treatment and used by many patients. A range of pharmaceutical companies and their affiliates are participating in MyKarte ONC as a PHR platform to support cancer patients and healthcare professionals, which covers treatments of multiple cancer types. Chugai understood the concept ahead, which resulted in the release of MyKarte ONC to patients with breast cancer as a patient support program. Welby will cooperate with Chugai to further improve MyKarte ONC to popularize PHR among patients.”

Trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law.

Corporate Information

About Welby Inc.
Welby is a leading company started to provide Personal Health Record (PHR) services in 2011. The company plans, develops, and applies digital services for treatment support for patients in a range of therapeutic areas. Welby MyKarte is one of their PHR services through smartphone application for patients with lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to support self-control of blood glucose levels and blood pressure. They also manage a number of PHR services planned in cooperation with leading pharmaceutical companies. Their PHR services cover lifestyle disease area, as well as a wide variety of therapeutic areas including oncology, central nervous system diseases, autoimmune diseases, and rare diseases. Furthermore, taking advantage of experience in providing PHR services and ID/DB infrastructure they developed in a range of therapeutic areas, Welby manages consultation for evidence creation utilizing PHR/PRO collected from clinical studies, develops and applies PHR/PRO collection system, as well as supports application of equipment in cooperation with partner companies.

• Corporate Name: Welby Inc. (securities code: 4438)
• Representative: Takeru Hiki, CEO
• Head Office: 3F Nomura Fudosan Nihonbashi-Honcho Bldg., 2-7-1, Nihonbashi-Honcho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
• Date of Foundation: September 2011
• Business Description: Planning, development, and application of digital services for treatment support for patients (PHR)
• URL: https://welby.jp/ (Japanese only)

About Chugai
Chugai Pharmaceutical is one of Japan’s leading research-based pharmaceutical companies with strengths in biotechnology products. Chugai, based in Tokyo, specializes in prescription pharmaceuticals and is listed on the 1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As an important member of the Roche Group, Chugai is actively involved in R&D activities in Japan and abroad. Specifically, Chugai is working to develop innovative products which will satisfy unmet medical needs. Additional information is available on the internet at https://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/english/.

About CHUGAI DIGITAL VISION 2030
URL: https://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/english/profile/digital/index.html
In CHUGAI DIGITAL VISION 2030, Chugai has set its goal for 2030 to transform its business by using digital technologies to make Chugai a top innovator in the provision of society-changing healthcare solutions. Based on the three basic strategies consisting of 1) Strengthen digital platform, 2) Optimize all value chains, and 3) Digital transformation for drug discovery and development, the company aims to transform its business and provide society-changing healthcare solutions.