WellPoint's Safety Sentinel System(TM) to be Built by HealthCore, the
Company's Health Outcomes Research Subsidiary, in Collaboration with FDA and
Top Academic Institutions
INDIANAPOLIS, April 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- HealthCore, Inc., the
health outcomes research subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP), today
announced it is developing a Safety Sentinel System(TM) in response to
increasing public demand to more effectively and rapidly monitor the safety of
pharmaceuticals and other medical therapies after U.S. Food and Drug
Administration approval.
WellPoint's Safety Sentinel System is being developed in close
collaboration with leading government and academic institutions, including the
FDA and faculty from key academic institutions, including Harvard University,
the University of North Carolina and the University of Pennsylvania, and is
expected to advance national efforts to identify safety risks associated with
drugs and other clinical care decisions, allowing physicians and other health
care professionals to make more informed decisions about how to treat their
patients.
"To rapidly and successfully identify emerging safety problems, we need to
bring all health care stakeholders to the table," said Janet Woodcock, M.D.,
Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA. "The FDA is planning
a larger public-private partnership and we're excited that WellPoint is
building a system that could inform this initiative."
Jerry Avorn, M.D., professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School and
chief, division of pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics, Brigham and
Women's Hospital, said, "The discovery of important risks of drugs like
Vioxx(R) and Avandia(R) has demonstrated that the health care system currently
has no reliable means of quickly measuring the safety of drugs once they're in
widespread use. I look forward to working with HealthCore and its partners on
this project and bringing the value of WellPoint's Safety Sentinel System to a
large number of patients."
Ultimately, the system is expected to be capable of continually monitoring
WellPoint's 35-million member database and identifying increases in health
problems among members taking a given drug, indicating a potential Serious
Adverse Event (SAE). It is anticipated that the company's Safety Sentinel
System will also make it possible to examine whether particular combinations
of treatments could cause serious medical problems, especially in patients
with certain diseases or health conditions.
Sam Nussbaum, M.D., chief medical officer for WellPoint, said, "This
critical information will allow health care decision-makers including federal
agencies, physicians, consumers and manufacturers to move far more quickly
than in the past in addressing potential drug risks. "Our company's Safety
Sentinel System will draw upon the vast amount of data generated by
WellPoint's health plans, including the use of specific medications. It will
enable us to identify potential hazards and allow faster, more informed
decision making by health care professionals."
"Our initial developmental work on the system has clearly demonstrated its
ability to detect adverse events rapidly," Nussbaum said. "We were able to
pick up a safety signal within a few months on certain drugs even though in
some cases in the industry's current system it can take more than 5 years."
"WellPoint's investment in its Safety Sentinel System demonstrates the
company's commitment to providing the best possible care to its members," said
Marcus Wilson, Pharm.D., president of HealthCore. "What differentiates our
system from other safety programs is not only our ability to access massive
amounts of data to detect the presence of serious safety issues, but also our
ability to work in collaboration with our vast network of health care
providers across the country to quickly and effectively evaluate the validity
of the signal."
HealthCore, a subsidiary of WellPoint, is a health outcomes research
organization that has served the needs of health plans, physician practices
and pharmaceutical manufacturers since 1996. HealthCore focuses on providing
evidence of the real-world safety and effectiveness of therapeutics; offering
insight to best utilize this evidence; and communicating these findings to
health care decision-makers. The company's work is increasingly used to
support the practice of evidence-based medicine, to advance quality
improvement, and to enhance patients' quality of life and satisfaction with
care. Today HealthCore has more than 100 clinical projects underway with a
number of academic and industry partners.
About WellPoint, Inc.
WellPoint, Inc. is the largest health benefits company in terms of medical
membership in the United States. WellPoint is an independent licensee of the
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross
licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado,
Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30
counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as Empire
Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding
counties and as Empire Blue Cross or Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected
upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the city of Fairfax, the
town of Vienna and the area east of State Route 123.), Wisconsin; and through
UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at
www.wellpoint.com.
SOURCE WellPoint, Inc.
CONTACT: Media, Kristin Binns, +1-917-697-7802,
kristin.binns@wellpoint.com, or Investor Relations, Michael Kleinman,
+1-317-488-6713, both of WellPoint, Inc.
