NEW YORK – Boston-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA said Friday that it has entered into an exclusive partnership to optimize an MiTest Health personalized risk and outcome prediction tool for widespread use in patients with Crohn's disease.
The predictive tool was developed by MiTest in 2014 and has been validated in a cohort of adult patients with Crohn's disease, but so far it has been used on a limited basis in clinical settings.
Takeda said it will work with MiTest to provide support in scaling up the tool to expand its reach among gastroenterologists and their patients.
Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Crohn's disease can cause severe complications and irreversible damage to the bowels," MiTest Co-founder Corey Siegel said in a statement. "The tool has the potential to help tailor the approach for patients with Crohn's disease by better informing them and their physicians about their individual potential risks for developing complications early on, before disease complications occur."
The validated tool can help predict a patient's potential risk for Crohn's disease-related complications based on clinical, serologic, and genetic variables, Takeda said. It predicts an individual's potential risk for disease progression using clinical phenotype information and a blood sample that is analyzed for patient-specific serologic markers and NOD2 status.
The tool creates a graphical risk score, and healthcare providers then receive a report that can facilitate discussions with patients to determine an appropriate course of action.