Press releases
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February, 17, 2011
The World Heart Federation, sanofi-aventis and Boehringer Ingelheim announce collaboration on worldwide AF awareness campaign
Geneva, 15 February 2011 – The World Heart Federation, sanofi-aventis and Boehringer Ingelheim have announced their collaboration on the AF AWARE (Atrial Fibrillation AWareness And Risk Education) campaign today, to raise awareness of atrial fibrillation (AF) and its links to severe consequences including cardiovascular (CV) mortality, stroke and CV hospitalizations. The campaign aims to promote education around the risks associated with AF as well as highlight the importance of early diagnosis and comprehensive management to maximize patient outcomes.
“AF is a growing public health issue, affecting not only the patients who live with the condition, but also their families and the healthcare systems in the countries where they live. Yet research shows there is a perceived lack of awareness and understanding of this condition,” said Johanna Ralston, Chief Executive Officer, World Heart Federation. “The AF AWARE campaign was established to specifically address the lack of awareness and endeavours to draw attention to this serious, chronic, disease, the consequences of which can have devastating effects on patients and healthcare systems.”
“Despite the fact that the complications of AF can be severe, for many people living with AF, the condition has very little noticeable impact on their lives, and in some cases goes undiagnosed and untreated, resulting in strokes that could be prevented. Up to three million people worldwide suffer strokes related to AF each year, with half of patients dying within 12 months,” said Klaus Dugi, Corporate Senior Vice President Medicine, Boehringer Ingelheim. “We are delighted to support the AF AWARE campaign in 2011, as it is critical that effective action is taken now for individuals living with AF and their families, to ensure the optimal management of the condition, reducing the number of strokes related to AF.”
A recent report found that the lives of thousands of people living with AF could be at risk due to delay in time to diagnosis, poor adherence to treatment guidelines and lack of information for patients suffering from this debilitating heart condition.
People living with AF have a lower quality of life than healthy individuals, . as AF is also frequently associated with multiple CV co-morbidities which can adversely affect a patient’s long-term outcomes. AF carries a four- to five-fold increased risk of stroke and is associated with a high risk of CV events 3 and hospitalization. Using data from 10,000 AF patients, the REALISE AF registry showed that about 29% of AF patients had a CV event leading to unplanned hospitalization in the last 12 months.
“Atrial fibrillation is a major cause of morbidity and mortality which contributes to a substantial public health burden” said Nazira Amra, M.D., Associate Vice President, Global Anti-Arrhythmics Strategy, sanofi-aventis. “Sanofi-aventis has been supporting AF AWARE since its inception and we are delighted to continue this global initiative in collaboration with the World Heart Federation and Boehringer Ingelheim in order to raise AF awareness and promote better access to information for patients, their caregivers and health care providers.”
The World Heart Federation will lead the initiative internationally and will also work closely with SAFE (Stroke Alliance for Europe) and the Atrial Fibrillation Association (AFA), to deliver the programme. Agreements have been established with sanofi-aventis and Boehringer Ingelheim for a co-sponsorship.
The activities of the AF AWARE campaign are supported by funding from both sanofi-aventis and Boehringer Ingelheim.
February, 02, 2011
On 1st of November 2010, the European Commission has launched a new large scale collaborative project aiming at improvement of patient care in patients with Atrial Fibrillation. The “European Network forTranslational Research in Atrial Fibrillation” (EUTRAF) was granted atotal amount of 12 million Euros for integrated research in order to explore disease mechanisms and to develop better diagnostic means and new therapies in patients with Atrial Fibrillation. The total funding period of this network is 5 years.
The Need for Research on Atrial Fibrillation:
Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia,occurring in between 1 and 2% of the general population. More than 6 million Europeans suffer from this arrhythmia and its prevalence is expected to increase by more than 2 fold during the next 50 years. Thus, AF is said to stand at epidemic proportion. The most important complication of AF are ischemic strokes which occur 5 times more often in patients with AF and which – if survived – often leave the patient disabled requiring long-term clinical care.
At least one percent of the healthcare budget of Western European and North American countries is spent on the management of AF. AF therefore presents a rapidly growing social, medical and public health problem. “There is urgent need for better prevention of AF, more effective treatment of the arrhythmia and also for the prevention of disabling complications.” Prof. Camm,coordinator of the consortium working at St. George University in London says.
Structure and Participants of EUTRAF:
The European Network for Translational Research in Atrial Fibrillation (EUTRAF) is a multidisciplinary consortium of expert groups involved in atrial fibrillation research. The consortium consists of academic research groups and industry partners. Expertise ranges from molecular biology, genetics, and experimental electrophysiology, to engineering, computer science and cardiology. The partners will work in a matrix structure organized around central work packages each of which will utilize the full range of expertise provided by the network. Prof. Schotten, working at Maastricht University and one of the two technical field managers of EUTRAF, emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary collaboration: “In my opinion, bringing together diverse expertise’s, joining forces from different disciplines, from different institutions, and finally from different countries is nowadays essential in order to perform competitive and truly innovative research.”
The consortium is being led by Professor John Camm from St. George‘s University of London (UK) and consists of the following partners:
St-George’s University of London (UK)
Maastricht University (Netherlands)
Université Pierre Marie Curie – Paris (France)
Technische Universität Dresden (Germany)
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire – Bordeaux (France)
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (Germany)
University Hospital Magdeburg (Germany)
Universität Bern (Switzerland)
University Hospital Graz (Austria)
Medical Information Technology Solutions (Turkey)
University of Oxford (UK)
UK Health & Environment Research Institute (UK)
Sanofi-aventis Deutschland GmbH (Germany)
Osypka AG (Germany)
Xention Ltd (UK)
Ruprecht-Karls Universität – Heidelberg (Germany)
Philipps Universität – Marburg (Germany)
Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität – Greifswald (Germany)
The Mission of EUTRAF:
EUTRAF’s mission is to improve the management of Atrial Fibrillation in Europe. This is intended to be achieved by identifying patients who are at-risk for AF at an early stage and by better understanding of the factors leading towards persistent AF. Another important strategy is to develop accurate diagnostic tools for identification of disease mechanisms in an individualpatient and to design a specific therapy for each patient based on these individual disease mechanisms.
November, 23, 2010
Call for action to improve patients’ health and reduce costs to national health systems
London, 23 November 2010 – The lives of thousands of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF)i could be at risk due to poor diagnosis, failure to follow treatment guidelines and lack of quality information for patients suffering from this debilitating heart condition, warns a report published today by the AF AWARE partnership. The report argues that poor diagnosis of AF may lead to increased risk of hospitalization, strokei and other cardiovascular complications, as well as to unnecessary costs to individuals and to healthcare systems in Europe. These findings come at a time when experts are meeting in London to exchange insights about the effective management of AF, at the EuropeAF conference. The findings have prompted a call from the AF AWARE partnership for European-wide improvements.Six million people across Europe are affected by AF1, making it the most common cardiac arrhythmiai (abnormal heart rhythm). While common symptoms include palpitations, shortness of breath and dizziness, some patients with AF experience no symptoms. AF increases a person’s risk of stroke by four to five fold.2
“AF is a serious, progressive and chronic disease, which can have devastating consequences on patients and healthcare systems” said Professor Gu¨nter Breithardt, spokesperson for the World Heart Federation. “This report highlights missed opportunities to manage AF more effectively, saving costs to European healthcare systems and most importantly, saving patients’ lives.”
The report reveals inconsistencies in adherence to treatment guidelines, inadequate patient resources, and a lack of country-level estimates of AF incidence and prevalence, which raises concerns that AF may be vastly underdiagnosed. This may hinder effective planning within national healthcare systems.
The report highlights that AF may cost the European Union €10 billion per year, based on a French estimate of a total average healthcare costs per year of €3,220 per AF patient. However, costs could be greatly reduced through the use of screening tools in primary care. As a study from the UK indicated, opportunistic screening of primary care patients can cost approximately £200 per patient, but is likely to lead to cost savings, avoiding more expensive secondary care.
The report also highlights substantial costs related to loss of work due to sickness absence, loss of productivity while at work and the need for early retirement. In Italy and Germany, these indirect costs have been estimated at over €3,000 per AF patient per year, while in the Netherlands, Greece and France these costs are in the hundreds of euros for each patient. The result is increased pressure on individuals with AF, their caregivers, employers, as well as the healthcare and welfare systems.
In response to the report, the AF AWARE partnership, led by the World Heart Federation and the Stroke Alliance for Europe, is calling for immediate action in four areas:
1. Wider availability and use of disease registries, to get a more accurate estimate of AF prevalence and assess the true burden of the disease
2. More educational tools on interpreting and applying treatment guidelines to country- specific needs
3. An assessment of clinician training needs, patient information gaps and treatment preferences
4. Quality patient materials, enabling patients to become true partners in making treatment decisions, with appropriate support from their clinician
“AF is a growing public health concern, with prevalence set to double by 2050” said Dr Markus Wagner, President, Stroke Alliance for Europe. “The AF AWARE partnership is calling for urgent steps to be taken now to improve care for AF patients in Europe and reduce the physical, psychological and economic impact of this disease.”
November, 05, 2010
Consortium awarded European Union grant for 5 years of Atrial Fibrillation research.
Paris, France – November 5, 2010 – Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) announced today that it is a partner in a new multidisciplinary atrial fibrillation research consortium, the “European Network for Translational research in Atrial Fibrillation” (EUTRAF), which has been awarded a €12 million grant to engage in atrial fibrillation (AF)i research. The European consortium is commencing a five-year research project with the objectives of providing highly interactive research with a variety of expertise to improve management of AF including diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
“Sanofi-aventis is committed to further advancing AF patient care and delighted to do so in collaboration with a network of highly respected scientific institutions and recognised clinical experts in the field of AF,” said Marc Cluzel MD, PhD, Executive Vice President, Research and Development, sanofi-aventis. “We are proud to provide sanofi-aventis R&D expertise and to contribute new candidate molecules to the network. Sanofi-aventis’ pioneering research in AF spans several decades and has led to innovations such as amiodarone, and dronedarone.”
Paris, France – November 5, 2010 – Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) announced today that it is a partner in a new multidisciplinary atrial fibrillation research consortium, the “European Network for Translational research in Atrial Fibrillation” (EUTRAF), which has been awarded a €12 million grant to engage in atrial fibrillation (AF)i research. The European consortium is commencing a five-year research project with the objectives of providing highly interactive research with a variety of expertise to improve management of AF including diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
“Sanofi-aventis is committed to further advancing AF patient care and delighted to do so in collaboration with a network of highly respected scientific institutions and recognised clinical experts in the field of AF,” said Marc Cluzel MD, PhD, Executive Vice President, Research and Development, sanofi-aventis. “We are proud to provide sanofi-aventis R&D expertise and to contribute new candidate molecules to the network. Sanofi-aventis’ pioneering research in AF spans several decades and has led to innovations such as amiodarone, and dronedarone.”
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