The Patient Equation

How the data revolution is transforming biotech and health care, especially in the wake of COVID-19—and why you can’t afford to let it pass you by

We are living through a time when the digitization of health and medicine is becoming a reality, with new abilities to improve outcomes for patients as well as the efficiency and success of the organizations that serve them. In The Patient Equation, Glen de Vries presents the history and current state of life sciences and health care as well as crucial insights and strategies to help scientists, physicians, executives, and patients survive and thrive, with an eye toward how COVID-19 has accelerated the need for change. One of the biggest challenges facing biotech, pharma, and medical device companies today is how to integrate new knowledge, new data, and new technologies to get the right treatments to the right patients at precisely the right times—made even more profound in the midst of a pandemic and in the years to come.

Drawing on the fascinating stories of businesses and individuals that are already making inroads—from a fertility-tracking bracelet changing the game for couples looking to get pregnant, to an entrepreneur reinventing the treatment of diabetes, to Medidata's own work bringing clinical trials into the 21st century—de Vries shares the breakthroughs, approaches, and practical business techniques that will allow companies to stay ahead of the curve and deliver solutions faster, cheaper, and more successfully—while still upholding the principles of traditional therapeutic medicine and reflecting the current environment.

• How new approaches to cancer and rare diseases are leading the way toward precision medicine
• What data and digital technologies enable in the building of robust, effective disease management platforms
• Why value-based reimbursement is changing the business of life sciences
• How the right alignment of incentives will improve outcomes at every stage of the patient journey

Whether you're a scientist, physician, or executive, you can't afford to let the moment pass: understand the landscape with this must-read roadmap for success—and see how you can change health care for the better.

Introduction vii

Section 1 From Hippocrates to Epocrates 1

Chapter 1 Before We Cured Scurvy 3

Chapter 2 Inside the Equations 17

Chapter 3 Fitbits, Smart Toilets, and a Bluetooth-enabled Self-driving ECG 43

Section 2 Applying Data to Disease 57

Chapter 4 Ava—Tracking Fertility, on the Road Toward Understanding All of Women’s Health 59

Chapter 5 One Breath, One Drop—Asthma and Diabetes, Chronic Conditions Being Conquered with Technology 69

Chapter 6 Flumoji and Sepsis Watch—Two Approaches to Predicting and Preventing Acute, Life-threatening Conditions Through Smarter Data 81

Chapter 7 Cancer and Phage Therapy—Crafting Custom Treatments Just for You 93

Chapter 8 Castleman Disease—Not One Rare Disease with No Treatments, But Three Rare Diseases . . . with Hope, Thanks to Data 105

Section 3 Building Your Own Patient Equations 113

Chapter 9 The Steam Table 115

Chapter 10 Good Data 133

Chapter 11 Changing Clinical Trials 143

Chapter 12 Disease Management Platforms 175

Section 4 Scaling Progress to the World 191

Chapter 13 The Importance of Collaboration 193

Chapter 14 Value-based Reimbursement 203

Chapter 15 Aligning Incentives 217

Conclusion 231

Acknowledgments 241

About the Authors 243

Index 245

GLEN DE VRIES is co-CEO and co-founder of Medidata, the most-used platform for clinical trials around the world. Medidata has powered tens of thousands of clinical trials, with millions of patients and billions of patient records. In 2019, in one of the largest health care technology acquisitions in history, Medidata became part of Dassault Systèmes. Glen has been driving Medidata's mission since the company's inception in 1999, "powering smarter treatments and healthier people" by advancing pharmaceutical business transformation with technology, non-traditional ways of thinking, and industry collaboration. Glen's work has appeared in Applied Clinical Trials, Cancer, The Journal of Urology, Molecular Diagnostics, and other journals. He also serves as a trustee of Carnegie Mellon University.

JEREMY BLACHMAN is a writer who works with leaders across industries on getting their ideas out to the world. He has published two novels and developed television pilots for NBC. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other prominent publications.

We are in the midst of a biological and technological revolution in which the digitization of health and medicine is becoming a reality. Everyone across the industry spectrum—life science and technology companies, hospitals and health care providers, biotech researchers and entrepreneurs—is making significant progress applying data to health and disease, attempting to match the right treatments to the right patients at the right times and dramatically enhance quality of life—and COVID-19 has further illustrated the need for change. From apps and wearables to entirely new approaches to clinical trials, digital technologies are transforming every aspect of the industry. The Patient Equation examines the history, current status, and future role of data in health care and life sciences, with an eye toward what ought to be on the minds of business leaders, scientists, physicians, policy makers, stakeholders, and patients.

Drawing from his two decades of practical experience and leadership in the life sciences industry, author Glen de Vries explains what you need to understand in order to succeed in this rapidly-changing landscape. Featuring real-life stories of businesses and individuals already making incredible progress applying data and analytics to help solve a range of conditions, this book illustrates the business necessity of staying ahead of the technology curve and combining data-driven precision medicine with the traditional principles of therapeutic health care.

As data-driven precision medicine continues to transform the way treatments are developed, delivered, and applied, understanding digital technologies is critical for everyone in the business of health care. Whether you're an industry leader, health care practitioner, or simply a person looking to live a longer, healthier life, The Patient Equation will help you seize the opportunity to take full advantage of the present breakthroughs and understand how the future is set to unfold.

HOW TO EMBRACE THE DATA REVOLUTION TO DELIVER FASTER, CHEAPER, AND MORE EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS IN LIFE SCIENCES AND HEALTH CARE

Digital transformation is changing the business of health care at breakneck speed—accelerated even further in the wake of COVID-19. Across the industry, from biotech and pharmaceutical companies to hospital systems, insurers, and more, everyone is looking for the next big technological innovations to develop new treatments, enhance care, improve outcomes, maximize efficiency, and increase value in our data-powered world. How did we get here, and what does the future hold?

The Patient Equation: The Precision Medicine Revolution in the Age of COVID-19 and Beyond explores the history, current state, and future direction of the use of data in biotechnology and health care. Author Glen de Vries, co-founder of the leading cloud platform for life sciences research, shares his insights and leadership on precision medicine and the digital landscape of the future. Designed to help anyone in the business of life sciences navigate our complex world, this practical guide explains the principles, approaches, and business models that are crucial for keeping pace with the ongoing revolution in data and analytics. Throughout the book, real-life stories show you what individuals and organizations are doing to ensure the data revolution does not pass them by, from wearables to track fertility to apps to conquer diabetes, from AI-powered sepsis alerts to using breakthrough new data strategies in clinical trials.

A must-have resource for anyone interested in the future of life sciences and health care, The Patient Equation:

• Covers the world of precision medicine, from the individual patient to the global population
• Explains the fundamentals of patient equations and data collection and analysis
• Discusses current progress and the most effective strategies to achieve future breakthroughs
• Examines approaches to predicting and preventing disease using smart data
• Illustrates why value-based reimbursement is the model of the future
• Describes how data and technology will help us conquer everything from chronic conditions to cancer to rare diseases to pandemic illness