The People-Centered Research Foundation (PCRF) tapped Datavant to help it de-identify and coordinate the sharing of data across its national clinical research network covering over 60 million patients.
More than 70 healthcare institutions make up PCORnet—including academic centers, community hospitals, clinics and health plans—with the foundation serving as its central office. The network was developed and launched with backing from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, or PCORI.
Its hundreds of data sets will be able to employ Datavant’s token-based ecosystem, which aims to preserve the privacy of patients and study participants while also allowing researchers to share real-world data. Datavant and the PCRF say that unlocking access and merging the findings could create one of the world’s richest sources of patient outcomes research.
RELATED: Roivant’s Datavant raises $41M, buys data de-identification firm UPK
“We share the common mission of unlocking the power of health data to answer the questions that matter most to patients and those who care for them,” Datavant co-founder and CEO Travis May said in a statement. “We are confident that PCORnet’s de-identified and linked national network will accelerate medical research and improve outcomes for patients.”
Datavant was spawned from Vivek Ramaswamy’s cluster of specialty-focused biotech “vants” in 2017, after the mother ship Roivant Sciences raised $1.1 billion for its wide-ranging efforts. It was tasked with working to help break down the silos of data held among different healthcare firms.
Last year, Datavant partnered with Worldwide Clinical Trials for a real-world data pilot project focused on neurodegenerative diseases and with Parexel on using such data to help design clinical trials and accrue participants.