Dr. Jason Gross reports

NEW STUDY PUBLISHED ON THE IMPACT OF PHARMACEUTICAL SUPPORT PROGRAMS ON PERSISTENCE WITH CLOZAPINE TREATMENT

HLS Therapeutics Inc. has noted that results from a Quebec-based retrospective study examining the positive impact of pharmaceutical support programs (PSPs) on persistence with clozapine treatment have been published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

The publication, titled "The Impact of Pharmaceutical Support Programs on Persistence: Clinical, Human and Economic Impact of Clozapine Support Programs in Quebec, Canada," is based on an 18-month persistence study conducted using data from the Regie de l'assurance maladie du Quebec (RAMQ) for patients who were initiated on clozapine treatment.

Clozapine PSPs were created to provide additional services to help health care providers manage patients being treated with clozapine which is the only approved treatment for treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) in Canada. Approximately 25 to 30 per cent of people with schizophrenia have TRS. HLS's branded version of clozapine is Clozaril and its associated PSP is the Clozaril support and assistance network, or CSAN.

The study highlights that helping patients maintain persistence with clozapine treatment is a critical success factor for the management of TRS patients, resulting in reduced pain and suffering of the patient, improved treatment benefits, and reduced health care costs. The study found that persistence rates were better when clozapine was paired with a PSP, including a 69-per-cent reported persistence rate overall for CSAN, as opposed to a 25-per-cent persistence rate without a program. The study also notes that differences in the offerings between PSPs can have an impact on persistence, placing varying demands on the health care system.

"Improved persistence with clozapine treatment not only benefits patients and their families, but it also saves the health re system important resources, as patients who are stabilized on clozapine treatment require fewer hospitalizations, emergency room consultations and physician visits," said Dr. Jason A. Gross, PharmD, vice-president, scientific affairs, at HLS. "I'm very proud of the hard work our CSAN team does every day on behalf of patients and practitioners. This publication demonstrates the important impact they have on patient care."

About HLS Therapeutics Inc.

Formed in 2015, HLS is a pharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition and commercialization of late-stage development, commercial-stage promoted and established branded pharmaceutical products in the North American markets. HLS's focus is on products targeting the central nervous system and cardiovascular therapeutic areas. HLS's management team is composed of seasoned pharmaceutical executives with a strong record of success in these therapeutic areas and at managing products in each of these life cycle stages.

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