• AbbVie and NorthWest EHealth intend to explore the underlying associations between autoimmune conditions, using technology to interrogate data from NHS general practices
• Greater Manchester?s population makes the region the ideal location to conduct the work
• This project is an example of the partnership approach envisaged by the UK Government?s Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, which stresses the importance of collaboration to generate real-world data

MAIDENHEAD, UK, 27 November, 2019?? AbbVie, a research-based global biopharmaceutical company, together with NorthWest EHealth, a world leader in the innovative and trustworthy use of routinely collected healthcare data for clinical evaluation, today announces their partnership to explore the underlying associations between autoimmune conditions. The collaboration between AbbVie?s UK business and North West EHealth will harness NorthWest EHealth?s proprietary FARSITE software, a cohort finding tool that utilises primary care data. The North West is an ideal region for this type of investment due to Greater Manchester?s diverse population and its open approach to collaboration with industry, as reflected by the Memorandum of Understanding between the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. It is a prime example of the collaboration approach recommended by the UK Government?s Life Sciences Industrial Strategy. Alice Butler, AbbVie UK Medical Director commented: ?Harnessing the power of NHS data sets offers a significant opportunity to expand our collective knowledge of disease and ultimately work together to raise standards of care. We hope that the partnership model we have developed with NorthWest EHealth could serve as a best practice exemplar for future industry-NHS collaborations.? Julie Millar, Head of Community Services, NorthWest EHealth, added: ?We are delighted to collaborate with AbbVie. Using our FARSITE tool and expertise in interrogating health records, we hope to provide a valuable contribution to advancing scientific understanding of the associations between autoimmune conditions.? -ENDS- UK media contacts: Sarah Beck +44(0)7818 428111 sarah.beck@abbvie.com Notes to editors: About North West EHealth NorthWest EHealth provides technology to enable regulatory standard real world, data enabled, trials for the life sciences industry. The UK is uniquely placed to perform these types of study due to our single payer system and patient level identifiers which enables linking of the entire longitudinal care records. NorthWest EHealth has developed its own suite of applications and a real-world trial platform (validated to regulatory standard and aligned with FDA framework for real world evidence). These technologies facilitate rapid feasibility, recruitment and delivery of real-world trial study data using linked electronic health resources for consented patients. These technologies are scalable across all coded data sources. The technologies have been designed to operate to international data standards. For more information about NorthWest EHealth, visit?www.nweh.co.uk. Follow @NWEHealth on Twitter.