Research & Development

Innovation for sleep apnea reimbursed by Achmea

In the fall of 2010 NightBalance won the Health~Holland Venture Challenge. Less than five years later NightBalance proudly announced that health insurance company Achmea will reimburse their innovative Sleep Position Trainer (SPT). The SPT is the first innovative obstructive sleep apnea device in the world to receive reimbursement.

NightBalance, a spin-off of the Technical University Delft, developed the Sleep Position Trainer (SPT) to prevent positional sleep apnea. Sleep apnea causes many problems, including daytime drowsiness, lack of concentration, irritability, heavy snoring and as a result reduced quality of life. NightBalance found the solution: the SPT.

The innovation is a smart way to gently train patients to sleep on their side instead of their back. The SPT gives a light vibration that nudges the patient to change their sleep position. This only occurs during the light sleep stage, so that the natural sleep pattern of the patient is not affected. Patients are able to move freely during the night. Other features include a system that enables patients to gradually get used to sleeping in new positions and avoid sleep disruption.

In addition, the innovative SPT significantly increases therapy compliance and thereby improves treatment results.

Achmea is the first health insurer that reimburses this innovative approach to prevent sleep apnea. In order to achieve this, NightBalance performed years of research, including 35.000 nights of testing and lots of clinical research, resulting in many scientific publications. The convincing results of the research encouraged Achmea to reimburse this innovation. NightBalance is a great example of a smart solution in the Life Sciences & Health sector.

LifeLines

Spinoza Prize winner: ‘Research on gluten intolerance is a matter of patience’

‘It is a huge honour and recognition of the work that our group has been doing for the past 20 years,’ says Professor Wijmenga. The genetics of gluten intolerance has always been at the forefront of her research work. ‘We knew nothing about it when I started, now we have identified about half the DNA sites which play a part in the development of this disease.’

It appears that cells in the immune system become overactive in patients with coeliac disease. It confirms a theory put forward by Wijmenga some ten years ago: that the basis for coeliac disease may be common to other autoimmune diseases, like rheumatism, multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease. ‘It could mean that a treatment which works for one of these diseases would also be suitable for other autoimmune diseases.’

Source: University of Groningen

Photo: Ivar Pel - NWO

Professor Wijmenga sees the Spinoza Prize as recognition for the thousands of patients who have taken part in her research. ‘My dream is that one day there will be a simple test for coeliac disease. At the moment seven out of eight patients suffering from the disease don’t even realize that they have it.’

There is no shortage of ideas on how Professor Wijmenga will spend the € 2.5 million when the prize is presented on 14 September. ‘That’s something I will be carefully thinking about over the summer. Using the Groningen project Lifelines to determine the root causes of coeliac disease, for example. But I am also thinking of research on medical therapies that are specifically geared to the genetic profile and other aspects of the patient, personalized medicine.’

She emphasizes that the Spinoza Prize is also important for keeping her research group going. ‘I mainly set the parameters. The young people in the lab do most of the work. This prize money means that I can give them room to develop further and become independent researchers.’

Web portals for Researchers

Agendia Co-Founder Wins European Inventor Award for Breast Cancer Test

The world-renowned molecular biologist is the co-inventor of Agendia's MammaPrint® breast cancer test, a genetic diagnostic test used for breast cancer patients in order to estimate the risk of recurrence up to 20 years into the future. The use of MammaPrint® in patients diagnosed with breast cancer makes it possible to constrain the use of chemotherapy and reduce overtreatment by 30 percent. More than 40,000 women in 34 countries have reaped the benefits of Van’t Veer’s test to date.

The European Patent Office (EPO) nominated Van’t Veer for her pioneering work: she was one of the three finalists for the European Inventor Award 2015 in the SME category. A total of five innovation awards were presented at the end of last week in Palais Brongniart (La Bourse) in Paris, France. The award serves to recognize the fundamental way in which Dr. Van ‘t Veer has changed breast cancer care with her invention, MammaPrint®. These radical changes extend to the treatment method used, the patient’s quality of life, and the healthcare costs involved.

The President of the European Patent Office, Benoît Battistelli, commenting on the award during the ceremony:

"Van't Veer's work has revolutionized cancer diagnostics by making it possible for treatments to be tailored to the individual needs of each patient. This makes her one of the most outstanding European inventors in the area of individualized medicine."

The genomic test invented by Dr. Van’t Veer provides clinicians with valuable data on women’s breast cancer and the risk of metastasis. MammaPrint® is the fastest-growing, most cost-effective test for determining the risk of recurrence of breast cancer to date and the only test of its kind to be supported by peer-reviewed research data from prospective cohort studies.

Implications of MammaPrint®:

Chemotherapy overtreatment can be reduced by 30 percent without endangering patients’ lives.
Women who can safely forego chemotherapy also avoid the often-devastating side effects of chemotherapy that can potentially result in permanent damage, such as congestive heart failure or diminished cognitive function.
MammaPrint®’s ability to identify women with low exposure to the risk of recurrence has eliminated the need for health insurance carriers to cover the high costs of chemotherapy if this is not strictly necessary, driving down the total cost of healthcare as a result.

Dr. Van't Veer is currently the Program Leader of the Breast Oncology Program and a Professor of Laboratory Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and CRO at Agendia. Her current research focuses on the molecular basis for an early response to therapy, in order to effectively manage the development of therapy-specific companion diagnostics.

“We are extremely proud of Dr. Van’t Veer and congratulate her on winning this prestigious international award,” said Agendia CEO Jan Egberts. “This accolade is a testament to the importance of her contribution to breast cancer care for women now and in the future and will help in creating a more prudent healthcare economy. All of us at Agendia are honored to support Dr. Van’t Veer’s extraordinary achievements and to help ensure her progress in the future.”