“I’m not comfortable with investors making bets on what people are experiencing, without the people themselves knowing they’re being monitored,” said Sikov, a writer in New York. Even if patients’ names are not shared, “that seems a little intrusive.”
Sikov, 57, said he knows about PatientLikeMe’s customers and is okay with his data going to drugmakers. The company’s privacy policy says it can share patients’ information with third parties though names, e-mails and dates of birth aren’t distributed.
Ofir Levi, head of life science research at the Israeli hedge fund Adamas Healthcare, says he’s used Treato’s data to support an investment idea.
Levi turned to Treato to find out whether prostate cancer patients might be prescribed a drug called Xtandi before they had received chemotherapy. The medicine, developed by Medivation Inc., is only approved in the U.S. for patients who have already had chemotherapy.
Levi suspected physicians might be prescribing Xtandi off- label. “By looking at patient discussions, we figured that pre- chemo patients were also getting this drug,” he said.
Patient Population
Realizing that the market was probably larger than the approved patient population, Levi bet on higher sales in the first quarter this year. Sure enough, on May 8, the drugmaker reported better than expected sales of Xtandi and raised its guidance for full-year sales of the drug. Medivation shares gained as much as 8 percent in late trading after the company’s report.
Levi says that while Treato’s data shouldn’t be used alone in investment decisions, it serves a useful purpose in supporting investor hunches like the Xtandi one.
Treato’s software reviews “tens of thousands” of patient forums and informal discussions daily, according to Chief Executive Officer Ido Hadari. The information is aggregated and analyzed, then sent to clients. Individuals aren’t identified; instead, the company seeks to find trends on how drugs are used and what problems consumers are experiencing.
Medical Research