Flatiron’s agreement with major UK Hospital Trust to translate cancer patients’ experiences into research-ready datasets signals new phase in global growth strategy
Flatiron Health, a leading healthtech company dedicated to improving cancer care and advancing research using real-world data (RWD), today announced a partnership with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT), one of largest acute hospital trusts in Europe. The entry into the United Kingdom marks a major milestone in Flatiron’s expansion as both a domestic and international market leader in oncology RWD.
While Flatiron’s datasets developed in the U.S. have already helped expand treatment alternatives for people around the world with cancer, the agreement in the U.K. signals a new phase for the company as it follows its commitment to advancing research and improving care, treatment, and quality of life for patients around the globe.
“We have so much more to learn from real-world patient experiences in order to accelerate research and improve patient outcomes. So, alongside partners, regulators, and patient advocates—and with scalable and secure methods—Flatiron has developed a unique offering in the UK to translate data from routine clinical care into research-ready datasets," said Flatiron CEO Carolyn Starrett. “We are excited to work with one of the most innovative and patient-centric medical institutions in the UK to add more patient experiences into the evidence that supports treatment, development, and regulatory decisions. We believe this is the best hope for truly transforming global cancer research and care.”
Founded in 2012, Flatiron brings together the boldest and most creative minds in medicine and technology to transform how cancer is understood and treated. Today, the treatments and outcomes of only a small percentage of cancer patients are captured in the clinical trials that have traditionally formed the evidence base for most treatment, development, and regulatory decisions. Flatiron helps to fill this gap by curating high-quality, real-world evidence (RWE) derived from aggregated, de-identified patient information captured during routine care.
The new partnership, the first of its kind in the UK, enables Flatiron UK to bring together clinicians, epidemiologists, software engineers, and data scientists to turn unorganized cancer information—including clinical letters and reports—into high-quality, anonymized data that can be safely and securely used by researchers to find improvements for cancer treatment and care.
The UK announcement comes at a time of significant international expansion for Flatiron. In January 2022 the company announced its partnership with Japan’s National Cancer Center Hospital East (NCCHE). RWD chronicling the experiences of NCCHE patients are being curated into top-quality de-identified datasets for use by NCCHE to support its research and treatment decisions, and by global researchers and regulatory decision-makers to help answer previously unanswerable questions.
Flatiron International subsidiaries in Japan, Germany, and the UK are partnering with hospitals and health networks in RWD collaborations through Flatiron's local teams and infrastructure, ensuring that strict legal and regulatory requirements are met in all locations. The goal is to produce more top-quality oncology datasets for use by Flatiron’s hospital and health network partners in research collaborations and under license—with specific terms and conditions—to biopharma companies, to accelerate cancer research.
“Each Flatiron International partnership is designed to help local healthcare providers and partners generate and utilize high-quality RWD to advance oncology research and care,” said Nathan Hubbard, Senior Vice President, Flatiron’s Head of Corporate Development and Flatiron International. “Through this groundbreaking new agreement with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which has also been approved by the NHS Health Research Authority—the NHS’ ethics body—we know we’ll be able to illustrate the realization of our mission to bring Flatiron’s RWD expertise into partnerships with hospitals and health networks in Europe and beyond.”
About Flatiron Health
Flatiron Health is a healthtech company expanding the possibilities for point of care solutions in oncology and using data for good to power smarter care for every person with cancer. Through machine learning and AI, real-world evidence, and breakthroughs in clinical trials, we continue to transform patients’ real-life experiences into knowledge and create a more modern, connected oncology ecosystem. Flatiron Health is an independent affiliate of the Roche Group.
