By: Deborah Johnson Wood
West Michigan’s 1.4 million healthcare patient population is expected to benefit from advanced medical treatments sooner than the general population. ClinXus, a partnership of several West Michigan medical facilities—among them are the Van Andel Institute, Spectrum Health, Saint Mary’s Health Care, and the Jasper Clinic—expects to bring cutting edge treatments to some patients seven to eight years sooner than they would normally be able to receive them if they lived somewhere else.
“When a new drug enters into clinical trials it takes about 15 years to get it to market,” said John Stark, executive director. “Until that drug is approved by the Food and Drug Administration, doctors are not allowed to prescribe it.”
About eight years into a new drug’s development, that drug moves into the clinical trial phase. That’s when certain patients enrolled in those clinical trials—for cancers, cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory diseases, and mental illnesses—can receive treatment, instead having to wait for FDA approval.
“To get these treatments to patients this early, patients have to be enrolled in clinical trials,” Stark said. “If you don't have the trials in your community, you can't have patients enrolled.”
Another advantage is the cost savings: the cost of the trials falls to the pharmaceutical companies, not the patients.
ClinXus was jump-started in 2006 by a $1.5 million 21st Century Jobs Fund grant and seed money from its member partners. The venture plans to bring a pharmaceutical presence back to the state, attract skilled medical researchers and technicians, add jobs, and spur the creation of new medically aligned businesses.
“We make the overall community offering that much stronger,” Stark said, “and that translates into economic growth and stability.”
Source: John Stark, ClinXus
Deborah Johnson Wood is Development News Editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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