Emyria Ltd (ASX:EMD) has revealed that clinical data from one of its personalised care plans for opioid users has been validated in a world-first data linkage project.
The ASX-lister is evaluating whether a treatment plan that involves care at its clinical services arm and a cannabinoid formulation can relieve a patient’s reliance on opioid medications to treat their chronic pain.
Promisingly, together with contract research monolith IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) and analytics firm NostraData, Emyria was able to validate its proprietary clinical data with a recent dispensing study.
Essentially, the validation indicates, on average, that opioid consumption reduces after a patient starts care at Emyria’s Emerald Clinics following 12 months of steady-state opioid use.
Emyria managing director Dr Michael Winlo will present these findings on June 7 at the Association of Regulatory and Clinical Scientists’ (ARCS) Annual National Summit.
A world-first project
Commenting on the results, Dr Winlo said he was very pleased to unveil the study’s early findings.
“The analysis shows that patients receiving personalised care at Emerald Clinics reduce their opioids substantially while also gaining improvements in pain symptoms and quality of life measures.
“Importantly, the analysis demonstrates both the validity, reach and richness of Emyria Data assets as well as the effectiveness of Emyria’s Care programs.
“Emyria has engaged academic partners to continue independent research and will further analyse the data for intellectual property, potential treatments for the US and the development of proprietary clinical decision support software tools.”
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The results are in
To validate its clinical medication tracking data, Emyria used its partnership with IQVIA and NostraData to better understand its patient’s historical opioid usage patterns up to a year before they received treatment.
Average oral morphine equivalent daily dose (OMEDD) scores for Emyria patients 12 months before and 12 months during care.
Overall, two-thirds of Emyria patients seek care to treat their chronic pain conditions, the vast majority of which is long-term pain they’ve experienced for more than two years.
Opiates are a common prescription to treat chronic pain in these patients, but Emyria’s personalised treatment plan seeks to mitigate prolonged opioid use and introduce a cannabinoid formulation to manage chronic pain.
One of the healthcare company’s success stories is Bob, a Vietnam veteran who injured his back in 1969.
When he first visited Emerald Clinics, Bob’s pain severity score was at a five and he required five different medications, including a range of opioids, to manage his pain.
By his fifth visit, Bob’s pain severity score had reduced to a 1.75. He has now ceased opiate use and his chronic pain remains stable with the help of a THC/CBD formulation.
Opportunities in the US market
Emyria’s findings come as opioid use disorder becomes an increasingly critical problem, particularly in the US market.
Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids in the US have risen dramatically since 2015.
The economic cost of opioid use disorder totalled US$471 billion in 2017.
Coupled with the US$550 billion linked to fatal opioid overdoses, the cost of opioid use disorders and overdoses totalled more than US$1 trillion at the time.
As a result, the company is particularly interested in studying potential treatments for chronic pain for the US market.
What’s next?
Moving forward, the company will assess the potential for new registered treatments with the Food and Drug Administration.
It will also present data to health insurers and payers in a bid to win increased clinic and patient funding and expansion support.
Ultimately, Emyria believes this course of action could lead to better health outcomes and potential economic benefits as it treats patients with chronic pain.