Target Trial Emulation brings the logic of randomized trials into real-world data
Target Trial Emulation does not replace randomized controlled trials, but it applies their logic and rigor to real-world data analysis.
Real World Evidence (RWE)
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Data Team is the Backbone of Medaffcon, Ensuring the Reliability of Research Results
The data team keeps Medaffcon's research projects on track and ensures that the research findings are scientifically sound. At the heart of the team’s work is the processing and analysis of patient data, particularly in Real-World Evidence (RWE) studies.
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Medaffcon Presented Insights from Finnish Real-World Data at European Lung Cancer Congress
Medaffcon's European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) poster showcased key findings from a recent study on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
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An Experienced Researcher seeks answers for their clients
Johan Rehnberg started working as a Scientific Advisor at Medaffcon’s Swedish office in August 2024. He is a dynamic researcher who values opportunities to learn new things and develop his skills – opportunities that Medaffcon provides.
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Medaffcon’s Machine Learning Algorithm Adapts to Various Research Needs
The algorithm was originally developed to extract smoking status from patient texts with purpose to analyze the effects of smoking on postoperative complications. Today, it is also being utilized in lung cancer research.
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Asthma and Antibiotic Use Increase the Risk of Revision Surgery in CRSwNP Patients
Asthma and antibiotic use are linked to a higher risk of revision surgery in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). This finding is based on a real-world evidence (RWE) study published in February.
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Prostate Cancer Study Successfully Linked Deep Clinical Hospital Data with Broader Healthcare Data
A real-world evidence (RWE) study on the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) has provided new insights into the therapeutic strategies for mCRPC. The analysis was based on data from 2,500 patients treated in Finland.
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Lymphoma Project by the University of Eastern Finland and Medaffcon Generates Over Ten Publications
The lymphoma research project has proven to be an exceptionally versatile source of new knowledge. The project includes at least two doctoral researchers, and its results are expected to generate well over ten scientific articles.
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Extensive Finnish Study Offers New Insights into Infection Risk and Mortality in Multiple Myeloma
Multiple myeloma significantly increases the risk of infections. A recent real-world evidence (RWE) study revealed that multiple myeloma (MM) patients experience more infections compared to healthy controls, even prior to diagnosis. Infections, both before and after diagnosis, were associated with an increased mortality.
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5th Nordic RWE and AI conference – 28-29 January 2025, Helsinki
5th Nordic RWE and AI conference is organized by University of Helsinki and Åbo Akademi University. Register to the event here!
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RWE Study: Chronic Kidney Disease often goes undiagnosed
Despite its high-risk nature and availability of kidney treatments, chronic kidney disease (CKD) often goes undiagnosed. This especially concerns patients without type 2 diabetes (T2D), who represent the majority of CKD patients. This finding comes from a recent registry study published in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation (NDT).
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AI Brings New Opportunities to RWE Research – Its Use in Health Data Analysis is Limited
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming research and working life across various industries. But what is its significance in health data analysis and real-world evidence (RWE) research? Medaffcon’s experts, Juhani Aakko and Lisse-Lotte Hermansson, share their perspectives on AI in their work.
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Insights from ISPOR Europe: Patients to Be Included in RWE Studies
Patient-centricity was one of the key themes at ISPOR Europe in Barcelona this November. Participants also discussed topics such as the use of Real-World Evidence (RWE) in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and the significance of artificial intelligence. In this article, Medaffcon's ISPOR attendees share the most important themes from this year's event.
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Medaffcon Brings RWE from the Nordic Markets for Global Use
Medaffcon's operations in Sweden are well-established and growing, offering pharmaceutical companies RWE studies and Market Access services delivered by Data Scientists, Market Access experts, and RWE specialists working together.
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Prognosis for Multiple Myeloma has Improved, but Prevalence is Increasing
The prognosis for patients with multiple myeloma (MM) has improved as treatments have advanced, but the disease remains incurable. The prevalence of the disease is increasing in Finland as the population gets older. This is evident from a recently published nationwide retrospective study based on real-world evidence (RWE).
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New Diabetes Medications Were Actively Adopted Between 2012–2019 – The Results Are Promising
The adoption of new diabetes medications in Finland was active between 2012 and 2019, according to an RWE (Real World Evidence) study published in May 2024. The study was conducted by Medaffcon in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Sanofi.
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Medaffcon is Preparing to Conduct RWE Studies in Neurology and Psychiatry
In the coming years, breakthroughs in neurological and psychiatric drug research are expected to change treatment practices and significantly improve patients’ quality of life.
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Medaffcon’s scientific expert’s day includes a variety of activities tailored to the needs of the pharmaceutical industry
Medaffcon experts are versatile professionals who adapt to customer needs. In this article, one of them, Liisa Ukkola-Vuoti, a senior scientific advisor at Medaffcon, describes her work over two weeks. Liisa is also one of the writers for the Health Data Site by Medaffcon.
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New RWE Study Indicates Poor Prognosis for NSCLC Patients Despite Targeted Therapies
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in Finland, with a particularly poor prognosis for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is often diagnosed at an advanced stage when treatment options are limited. A recently published retrospective registry-based real-world evidence (RWE) study on KRAS-mutated NSCLC patients in Finland addressed this issue.
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EHDS makes Finland an even more attractive place for RWE research
Finland will become an even more attractive place for conducting RWE (real-world evidence) research when it becomes a seamless part of the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Thus, health data can be used more efficiently across the European Union (EU), and datasets can be combined on an EU-wide basis.
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The Real-World Data (RWD) from the HUS Data Lake Provides Clinicians with Valuable Information about Treatment Outcomes
Hospital data lakes offer clinicians diverse real-world data (RWD) that supports their work. Dr. Heikki Ekroos, Chief Physician of Pulmonary Diseases at Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) Porvoo Hospital, presented real-world evidence (RWE) studies that were based on HUS data lakes data at Medaffcon’s EMMA client event.
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Sweden is a Rich Source of Real-World Evidence (RWE) and Health Data – Together with Finland, it Offers a Population of 15 Million
Real-world data (RWD) created in Finnish healthcare is comprehensive and high-quality. Sweden, another Scandinavian country, also offers high-quality healthcare data for real-world evidence generation.
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Finland: An Ideal Environment for the Pharmaceutical Industry’s Real-World Evidence (RWE) Studies
Pharmaceutical companies should consider Finland when evaluating locations for Real-World Evidence (RWE) studies. The country boasts numerous strengths that make it an outstanding choice for real-world data-based (RWD) research. “Finland’s strong tradition and extensive experience in utilizing healthcare registries for research make it unique,” says Dr. Riikka Mattila, Scientific Advisor at Medaffcon.
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Medaffcon has in-depth Understanding of the Needs of the Pharmaceutical Industry
Selecting the right interactions is a key factor for success. Therefore, the client should also consider how well the partner understands the pharmaceutical industry's needs. When the partner has extensive hands-on experience from the industry, these irreplaceable insights enable the partner to guide the project at different strategic levels, ensuring that the client’s various needs can be identified and met.
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Real-World Evidence (RWE) Influences Treatment Practices – Developing the Current Care Guidelines for Heart Failure
My list of publications includes over 20 peer-reviewed scientific articles. One of them is a special one because the Finnish Current Care Guidelines mention it for heart failure. This blog discusses the impact of research by Medaffcon on treatment practices.
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New RWE study indicates significant potential for improvement in treating adults with Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS-IF)
A study published in January 2024 in the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology has revealed that the treatment of adults with Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS-IF) clearly has significant room for improvement.
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Setting up a Nordic RWE study in Sweden – fast access to patients’ numbers and distribution across Sweden
Sweden's publicly funded healthcare system and universal access to specialized health care make the data derived from Sweden broadly generalizable, covering diverse populations including different ethnic backgrounds.
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Finnish hospital data lakes can be adapted to analysis of complex treatment patterns, outcomes and healthcare burden in multiple myeloma
Our latest multiple myeloma publication describes how complex multiple myeloma treatment patterns were assembled from data available in the Helsinki University Hospital data lake, Finland, how the treatments have changed in 2013–2019, and what the estimated treatment costs are in multiple myeloma.The study published online in October 2023 was carried out by the experts at Medaffcon Oy, Sanofi Oy, and Helsinki University Hospital, Finland.
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The introduction of new medications has resulted in a change in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma in Southwest Finland
Utilising the data lake of the Hospital District of Southwest Finland (TYKS), Medaffcon, Pfizer and TYKS have examined the clinical adoption of new medications for advanced renal cell carcinoma and the utility of data extracted without extensive manual extraction.
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Manual extraction gathered information on the drug treatment for ulcerative colitis
Hospital data lakes are a central source of information in Medaffcon's studies, and often, data retrieval can be automated. However, what happens when more complex matters need to be extracted from the databases? In such cases, manual extraction is used, says Medaffcon's Scientific Advisor, Riikka Mattila
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Leveraging Swedish Real-World Health Data for Research and Development
Swedish real-world health data, a recent addition to the in-house capabilities of Medaffcon, offer unique possibilities for measuring disease burdens and determinants, the effects of different exposures, and the outcomes of various health conditions in a population of almost 10.5 million people.
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Matching techniques go beyond virtual control arms, reminds senior data scientist at Medaffcon
Real-world data (RWD) can, however, be utilised also in a variety of non-clinical medical and pharmaceutical studies to compare aspects such as treatment outcomes and resource utilisation between different geographies and treatment options, reminds Samuli Tuominen, senior data scientist at Medaffcon.
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Characteristics of T2-low asthma revealed with Finnish real-world data
AstraZeneca Finland, Medaffcon and clinical experts have investigated what is the rarer endotype of severe asthma using biomarker data obtained from the data lake of Turku University Hospital (TYKS), Auria.
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Medaffcon’s matching know-how on display in immunosuppressant study
Samuli Tuominen, senior data scientist at Medaffcon, has co-authored a study that utilised propensity-score matching to compare the performance of two immunosuppressive drugs in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis after liver transplantation. Medaffcon has helped to validate the superiority of tacrolimus over cyclosporine as a post-liver transplantation immunosuppressive regimen for patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare immune-mediated cholestatic liver disease.
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Dr. Essi Havula joins Medaffcon – Bridging science with healthcare
Dr. Essi Havula has done an impressive international career as a researcher and top scientist. She joins Medaffcon team to strengthen the scientific possibilities of utilizing real-world-data and evidence.
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Atopic dermatitis is often under-treated despite various co-morbidities, reveal real-world data
Experts at Medaffcon have perused volumes of real-world data on patients with atopic dermatitis to provide new insights into co-morbidities and treatment patterns associated with the chronic skin condition.
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Finnish healthcare data helps cast light on burden of paediatric short-bowel syndrome
Experts from Medaffcon, Takeda and the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) have concluded an extensive study into paediatric short-bowel syndrome based on information from patient records.
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Potential of Swedish healthcare data illustrated by new study
Sweden’s abundance of high-quality digital healthcare data has enabled what is surely one of the most exhaustive study of mortality associated with Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) in the world.
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Short-term sick leaves accentuated in chronic diseases – register studies provide new information
Studies mapping short-term absences provide new information on the burden caused by diseases for healthcare services and the society.
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Medaffcon unlocks new research opportunities with Swedish real-world health data
Research based on Finnish and Swedish real-world health data can be generalised also to other settings and populations, says Dr. Johanna Simin, real-world epidemiologist at Medaffcon.
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Medaffcon taps experienced pharmacoepidemiologist as lead real-world epidemiologist in Sweden
Joining Medaffcon enables Dr. Johanna Simin to leverage her expertise to advance real-world data use and evidence-driven health. Medaffcon, in turn, can augment its in-house capabilities with the high-quality digital healthcare data found in Sweden.
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Medaffcon answers call for its solutions-oriented data approach in Sweden
Medaffcon has added Swedish healthcare registries to its capabilities as it continues to pursue growth and facilitate data utilisation by providing pharmaceutical companies access to rich and relevant healthcare data.
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Smoking clearly increases the risk of postoperative complications
Register study undisputedly confirms that a smoker’s risk for any postoperative complications is significantly higher than non-smokers’.
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Finnish health data mirror the entire patient pathway
Finnish hospitals’ data lakes offer an opportunity to access tremendously rich real-world data on treatments and outcomes that enable research on topics ranging from medical questions to health economics.
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New study: Treatment costs of heart failure increase tenfold in exacerbation
The result of a recent original study surprised the researchers: the costs of treating heart failure tenfold in exacerbation. The results were published in Duodecim on 23 March 2023.