RxParadigm Partners with Scipher Medicine® to Support Medication Utilization, Improve Patient Outcomes, and Lower Costs for Rheumatoid Arthritis Care

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scipher Medicine, a precision immunology company matching patients with their most effective medication therapies, today announced a partnership with RxParadigm, a pharmacy benefit manager company delivering transparency and restoring competitiveness to healthcare systems, to offer RxParadigm customers access to PrismRA. PrismRA is the only molecular signature blood test available in the U.S. that informs personalized treatment decisions for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

An estimated 90% of RA patients are prescribed tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) drugs, yet nearly two-thirds do not respond to the medications. More than $552 billion is wasted annually on prescribed medications to which patients do not respond. PrismRA tests for patient response and enables them to start more effective FDA-approved therapies from the outset.

“PrismRA is an innovative blood test demonstrating clinical excellence that allows physicians to transparently prescribe therapy guided on best outcomes,” said Mesfin Tegenu, founder and CEO of RxParadigm. “We are committed to bringing change into the healthcare system to create better drug utilization, improve patient outcomes, and encourage value-based pricing for fair access to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for Americans.”

Scipher Medicine’s health economic analyses suggest that integrating PrismRA into the care pathway for patients with RA improves outcomes while decreasing drug and other medical costs.

"Our partnership with RxParadigm is another step forward in our mission to help patients and solve one of healthcare’s biggest challenges,” said Alif Saleh, Chief Executive Officer of Scipher Medicine. "PrismRA empowers pharmacy benefit managers to guide and optimize drug utilization, which improves patient outcomes and lowers costs.”

Since PrismRA’s introduction last year, Scipher Medicine has partnered with health care companies across the U.S. that serve more than 50,000 physicians, 3,000 health care facilities, and 30 million Americans. The molecular data generated from PrismRA supports development of Scipher Medicine’s test pipeline targeting additional complex diseases with low drug therapy response rates, such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. Our proprietary network medicine platform also supports partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to develop new drug therapies.

RA is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease, which means a person’s immune system attacks healthy cells, causing painful swelling in the affected parts of the body, usually joints in the hands, wrists, and knees. There is no cure for RA, making early condition management critical to patient care. About 1.5 million Americans have RA, and women are two times more likely than men to get RA, according to the Arthritis Foundation.

About PrismRA^®

PrismRA, a liquid signature test, is a revolutionary advancement bringing precision medicine to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, which affects 20 million patients globally. From a routine blood draw, the PrismRA test analyzes an individual’s molecular signature, helping identify who is unlikely to adequately respond to TNFi therapy, the world’s largest selling drug class, so non-responders can be prescribed alternative effective therapy and avoid unnecessary dose escalations or drug cycles. Providers now have objective data to guide therapeutic decision-making and give patients the best chance of achieving treatment targets and improving clinical outcomes. For more information, please visit www.PrismRA.com.

About Scipher Medicine^®

Scipher Medicine, a precision immunology company matching patients with their most effective therapies, believes that patients deserve simple answers to treatment options based on scientifically backed data. Using Spectra™, our proprietary network medicine platform, and artificial intelligence, we commercialize blood tests revealing a person’s unique molecular disease signature and match it to the most effective therapy, ensuring optimal treatment from day one. The patient molecular data generated from our tests further supports the discovery and development of novel and more effective therapeutics. We partner with leading payers, providers, and pharmaceutical companies to bring precision medicine to autoimmune diseases. Visit http://www.sciphermedicine.com and follow Scipher Medicine on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

About RxParadigm

RxParadigm delivers transparency and competitiveness to the prescription drug marketplace. Founded by industry veteran Mesfin Tegenu, RxParadigm is reworking the opaque system of how prescription drug rebates are offered and how drug prices are negotiated to reduce the cost and increase availability of life-saving therapeutics to the American public. By neutralizing the PBM market imbalance, RxParadigm provides regional plans and pharmacy benefit management companies with the same economic advantages their larger competitors enjoy, along with the tools they need, including ease of payment for gene therapy, to differentiate themselves and provide more value to the marketplace. Visit www.rxparadigm.com