Delivering Precision Dosing to Australian Cancer Patients

DoseMe partners with Charm Health to improve management of high risk oncology medicines and deliver precision dosing to Australian cancer patients.

Today DoseMe announced a strategic alliance with specialist oncology eHealth provider, Charm Health, to integrate its personalised dosing tool with the CHARM™ platform. This will provide clinicians using CHARM with immediate access to the DoseMe library of individualised dosing models, significantly enhancing their clinical decision-making in the complex area of dose adjustment of chemotherapy and other medicines used in cancer care.

For many medicines used in the care of cancer patients, the difference between an effective dose and a toxic dose is very small; making accurate dose calculations a critical, and challenging, aspect of care. Historically dosing recommendations have been based on population research but cancer patients vary greatly in both their response to treatment, and their ability to metabolise drugs. The ability to individualise a patient’s dose, based on their pharmacokinetic profile offers a major leap forward in helping clinicians achieve improved response and outcomes for cancer patients.

DoseMe is an Australian founded medical technology company that allows clinicians to dose a patient based on their individual ability to absorb, metabolise, distribute and eliminate a drug. DoseMe achieves this by creating a virtual model of each patient’s individual pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, from as little one laboratory results, by using thousands of published data points. The virtual model is built in less than a second, allowing clinicians to accurately and precisely calculate a dose to reach the desired outcome.

The new precision dosing feature will be available in CHARM v4.7, supporting clinicians to calculate an individualised dose or simulate the potential outcome of any dosing regime – before giving it to the patient. Empowering clinicians to evaluate the outcome of any selected dosing regime in silico provides best practice support for individualised, evidence-based prescribing. Initially, the library of DoseMe drug models available in CHARM will target key areas, including leukaemia and soft-tissue tumours, however, the library of DoseMe drug models will continue to increase based on customer feedback.

Charm Health is Australia’s leading developer and supplier of specialist oncology information management systems, supporting the delivery of more efficient, cost effective and safer health care services in the complex medical environment of cancer care. The standardised care pathway templates in the CHARM library are built on evidence-based research. Decision support within CHARM guides clinicians in adapting pathway templates to the clinical context of individual patients. Availability of the DoseMe personalised dosing function within the CHARM application will extend the range of decision support tools available to guide clinicians in tailoring treatment and care for each individual patient.

There is natural synergy between DoseMe and Charm Health that will nurture a strong and productive relationship. The companies have a shared origin as ‘start-ups’ that were established to deliver a practical solution to a real-life problem in health care and have continued to put patient care and outcomes at the forefront of their innovations. Both headquartered in Brisbane, DoseMe and Charm Health are among the very few medical software vendors operating in Australia that have registered their products as ‘medical devices’ with the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

The focus of the collaboration is on delivering better outcomes for cancer patients. DoseMe enables clinicians to quickly and accurately determine the right dose for each individual patient. Working with CHARM to present the information in a readily consumable format, clinicians will be able to leverage the DoseMe platform as part of their current workflows. Ultimately, this partnership is aimed at supporting clinicians with information to make the best possible decisions for patient care.

Charles Cornish, Chief Executive Officer of DoseMe said; “Charm Health is an amazing organisation that has never lost sight of its primary purpose which is to support the care team to make a cancer patient’s journey and outcomes the best that they can be. I have admired their approach to business and swift growth in recent years.  As the powerhouse in the oncology space, not only could our partnership improve patient outcomes, but possibly adjust future treatment guidelines. In the past decade over 65,000 patients have had their cancer treatment managed by Charm Health solutions. Charm Health’s deep experience combined with DoseMe data analytics will allow us to work with clinics to proactively determine tighter dosing guidelines and maybe even uncover better treatment regimens previously not considered”

“Although we are both software companies, we have a duty to leverage our research and development strengths for the greater good. Both DoseMe and Charm Health are committed to that greater good, which makes the working relationship so well aligned”, Mr Cornish said.

Gary Lakin, Chief Executive Officer of Charm Health, said: “We are excited to partner with a fellow Queensland innovator to enhance our offering to the CHARM community of users. The cutting edge technology presented by DoseMe has the potential to revolutionise the way chemotherapy and other oncology medicines are dosed. Clinicians using CHARM already benefit from the evidence based pathways library and existing decision support available within CHARM but ‘personalised dosing’ is a quantum leap in terms of the level of confidence that clinicians will have in managing the medication care of an individual patient. Together we are leading the way to ‘precision medicine’ in cancer care”.

“We are a proud Australian company with an intimate understanding of the Australian healthcare environment. Working with DoseMe is an opportunity for two ‘Australian Made’ companies to enhance our contribution to cancer patients and the Australian healthcare industry”, Mr Lakin said.

Charm Health will be demonstrating DoseMe and new CHARM developments at the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) Annual Scientific Meeting, 15 – 17 November on the Gold Coast.

About DoseMe
DoseMe is the first predictive personalised dosing platform cleared by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use in Australia to support clinicians in improving patient outcomes through precision dosing. Pairing complex algorithms with a simple, app-based user interface allows a clinician to get the right dose every time. DoseMe supports several classes of drugs that are available on the Charm Health platform, including chemotherapeutic agents Methotrexate, Busulfan (IV & oral) Carboplatin and immunosuppressants including Cyclosporin, Tacrolimius XL, Tacrolimus Prograf and newer immunotherapy drugs such as Imatinib Mesylate.

About Charm Health
Charm Health is Australia’s leading supplier of specialist oncology eHealth systems with over 50 successful deployments to Australian public and private cancer care providers since 2000. In the past decade over 65,000 patients have had their treatment managed using Charm Health solutions. Charm Health’s flagship product CHARM™ delivers comprehensive multi-site functionality that manages the clinical and administrative coordination of all aspects of a patient’s cancer care. Charm Health solutions mitigate compliance, clinical, financial and administrative risk by ensuring the most up to date patient information is available to all healthcare providers, in real time, when making important clinical and prescribing decisions.
Charm Health is a portfolio company of the OneVentures Innovation Fund.

For more information and/interviews

DoseMe
Nicola Hunter
Marketing Communications Manager, DoseMe
M: 0421 046 279
E: nicola.hunter@doseme.com.au

Charm Health
Gary Lakin
Chief Executive Officer, Charm Health
M: 0400 808 504
E: gary.lakin@charmhealth.com.au