NICE Partners with Flatiron Health to Develop Real-World Evidence Research Methodologies

Collaboration will help NICE expand use of real-world data in service of better outcomes for UK cancer patients

MANCHESTER, England & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, www.nice.org.uk) is partnering with Flatiron Health (www.flatiron.com), an oncology research and technology company, to explore how real-world evidence (RWE) can inform the clinical and cost effectiveness of health technologies.

Flatiron Health and NICE experts will together conduct research that leverages Flatiron expertise and evidence generated from Flatiron’s electronic health record (EHR)-derived database; no individual patient data will be shared. An initial research project already underway will compare survival estimates from clinical trials to survival data observed in actual patient records to evaluate opportunities to reduce uncertainty in the estimation of long-term outcomes.

NICE provides guidance and standards about health technologies and clinical practices to England’s National Health Service, and is a world leader in the development of evidence-based guidelines to improve health and social care.

Flatiron Health is the leading source of oncology real-world data and methods, dedicated to advancing knowledge of how evidence derived from EHRs can improve patient care and inform decisions about cancer therapy development and access. Founded in 2012, Flatiron’s deep clinical datasets and analytic capabilities have supported submissions to regulators including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and to Health Technology Appraisal (HTA) bodies around the world, including NICE.

Pall Jonsson, associate director for science policy and research, who is leading the exercise for NICE, said: “We are excited to explore how real-world evidence could be incorporated into our work in the future. Working in this way will test how additional sources of evidence could complement trial and research data in our technology appraisals, especially in helping to resolve uncertainty in the evidence.”

The three-year NICE collaboration marks Flatiron’s first partnership beyond the U.S. and with an HTA body. In 2016, Flatiron began a groundbreaking partnership with the U.S. FDA which has since diversified and expanded from understanding clinical characteristics and treatment patterns of patients in real world practices, to exploring outcomes and study methods.

“We are very proud to partner with NICE to learn together, to continue to contribute to standards development and ensure that patient experiences inform research and drive better outcomes,” said Zach Weinberg, Flatiron Health co-founder, president and COO. “The current pandemic increasingly highlights the important role of real-world data in healthcare decision-making – for COVID-19, for cancer, and for many other urgent health priorities.”

About NICE

NICE's central role is to improve outcomes for people using England’s National Health Service and other public health and social care services. NICE produces evidence-based guidance and advice for health, public health, and social care practitioners. NICE develops quality standards and performance metrics for those providing and commissioning health, public health and social care services and provides a range of information services for commissioners, practitioners and managers across health and social care. For more information, see www.nice.org.uk or follow @NICEcomms.

About Flatiron Health

Flatiron Health is a healthcare technology and services company focused on accelerating cancer research and improving patient care. Our platform enables cancer researchers and care providers to learn from the experience of every patient. Currently, Flatiron partners with over 280 community cancer practices, seven major academic research centers and over 15 of the top therapeutic oncology companies. For more information, please visit www.flatiron.com or follow us @FlatironHealth.