New partnership between Aetion and Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation to enhance real-world IBD research

Aetion will leverage its real-world evidence (RWE) platform to analyze the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's IBD Plexus® data, advancing insights and targeted treatment development for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Aetion, a global provider of RWE technology and analytics, has announced a new partnership with the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's IBD Plexus® Research Program. As a preferred analytics partner, Aetion will leverage its technology to support real-world data (RWD) studies aimed at accelerating insights and advancing treatment development for IBD.

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with IBD, established IBD Plexus as a research accelerator to drive discovery and innovation. It houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of IBD patient data and biosamples, connecting researchers with the resources needed to advance new treatments.

Despite advancements in biologic and small molecule therapies, significant challenges remain in managing these complex conditions. To address this, IBD Plexus integrates clinical, patient-reported outcomes, and molecular data with linked biosamples from clinical settings, hospitals, laboratories, and patients' homes. This approach supports precision medicine strategies and enables the development of more personalized therapeutic solutions.

Looking to harness the potential of RWD to drive patient-centered insights, Aetion has partnered with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, which marks its first collaboration with a patient organization to advance research. Commenting on the partnership, Wendy Turenne, chief data officer at Aetion, explained:

“Combining the Foundation’s diverse, rich data in IBD Plexus with our technology and expertise in real-world data allows us to quickly give our pharmaceutical and biotech customers the insights they need to accelerate IBD drug development. Speed is important as patients are waiting.”

Angela Dobes, senior vice president of IBD Plexus at the Foundation, highlighted the partnership's potential:

 “Our robust IBD data is enabling collaboration with outside partners to unlock the potential of emerging tech and fast-track scientific discoveries. We are delighted to announce this strategic collaboration with Aetion, designed to enhance the value of IBD Plexus for the research community and ultimately improve patient outcomes.”

Aetion’s Evidence Platform® will facilitate flexible analysis through both self-service with Aetion® Substantiate and tech-enabled services. Key features include a measures library developed with key opinion leaders to define IBD variables, enhancing data analysis and standardization.

“Through our collaboration with the Foundation, we are leveraging the Aetion Evidence Platform® and our expertise in analyzing IBD Plexus complex data to enhance their offerings. This, in turn, will increase the return on investment for pharmaceutical companies utilizing IBD Plexus data," said Ashley Jaksa, commercial product lead for scientific services & HEOR markets at Aetion. “We believe this win-win approach is a model that could also benefit other patient organizations.”

This collaboration builds upon Aetion’s previous work with the Foundation in 2022, which focused on utilizing RWD and RWE to better understand disease progression and evaluate the value of new IBD treatments.