M3 : Joint Development of Disease Awareness Service with Takeda ~ HAE Disease Awareness System on AskDoctors ~

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2021/4/13

Joint Development of Disease Awareness Service with Takeda

~ HAE Disease Awareness System on AskDoctors ~

M3, Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Itaru Tanimura; URL: https://corporate.m3.com/en; "M3" below) has announced a new joint initiative with Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Christophe Weber; URL: https://www.takeda.com/ja-jp/; "Takeda," below) to develop and provide disease awareness services surrounding hereditary angioedema (HAE).

M3 operates m3.com, a specialized web portal for medical professionals that delivers healthcare related information to its 300,000+ physician members in Japan, and offers marketing and clinical trial services. AskDoctors service provides healthcare related Q&A for the general public, offering immediate and accurate responses from over 1,000 enlisted experienced physicians.

HAE is a rare genetic condition that causes repeated swelling across various parts of the body including the torso, face, feet, genitals, hands, and throat1,2,3. In the case of swelling in the throat, the respiratory tract may get blocked, leading to suffocation and potentially death3,4. It is estimated that 50,000 patients suffer from HAE worldwide, and in Japan, only 450 out of an estimated 2,000 ~ 3,000 patients have been properly diagnosed5. Furthermore, it has been reported that diagnosis is said to take an average of 13.8 years6 from the initial attack in Japan, 10 years7 in the U.S., and 8.5 years8 in the EU.

This endeavor aspires towards the early diagnosis of HAE through the combination of Takeda's disease expertise, and M3's technological capabilities and broad platform of physicians and patients. The service will assist the general public users of AskDoctors to become aware of the possibility of HAE and to seek proper help from physicians. When users search on AskDoctors using key words that are related to HAE symptoms, a checklist available on Takeda's "Swelling and Abdominal Pain Navi" HAE disease awareness website will be displayed to the user. The user can then fill out the checklist to determine if they are at risk of HAE, and share their answers with a physician for further guidance on AskDoctors.

In line with Takeda's desire to provide value towards the patients and their families through the creation and improvement of the entire ecosystems surrounding rare diseases that go beyond therapy development, M3 will continue to contribute to the medical industry by addressing larger issues surrounding various diseases via 7P projects that will provide optimized solutions that capitalize on the synergies across its various services and with its partners.

1. Cicardi M, Bork K, Caballero T, et al; on behalf of HAWK (Hereditary Angioedema International Working Group). Evidence based recommendations for the therapeutic management of angioedema owing to hereditary C1 inhibitor deficiency: consensus report of an International Working Group. Allergy. 2012; 67(2):147-157.
2. Zuraw BL. Hereditary angioedema. N Engl J Med. 2008;359(10):1027-1036.
3. Banerji A. The burden of illness in patients with hereditary angioedema. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol.

2013;111(5):329-336.

1. Longhurst HJ, Bork K. Hereditary angioedema: causes, manifestations, and treatment. Br J Hosp Med. 2006;67(12):654-657.
2. Hide M, Horiuchi T, et al. Management of hereditary angioedema in Japan: Focus on icatibant for the treatment of acute attacks. Allergology International 70 (2021) 45-54.
3. Ohsawa I et al: Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2015; 114: 492-498
4. Banerji et al., Allergy Asthma Proc. 2018 May-Jun; 39(3): 212-223
5. Zanichelli et al., Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology 2013, 9 :29