The HARMONY Alliance is set to become a research foundation

• The HARMONY Alliance has revolutionized the use of big data in Hematologic Malignancies research.
• Becoming a non-profit research foundation.
• Bringing hematology research and patient care to the next level.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, June 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The HARMONY Alliance has revolutionized the use of big data to accelerate developments in treating patients with Hematological Malignancies. A robust, open, collaborative research community has been established to leverage big data to improve patient care.

The EU grant phase that made this possible ends this year. The Alliance is made up of HARMONY and HARMONY PLUS – both funded by the European Commission's Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), formerly known as IMI. Thanks to the strong commitment and drive of all stakeholders involved, the work will be continued as a non-profit, collaborative research foundation. This new foundation will build upon existing achievements and bring hematology research and patient care to the next level.

The HARMONY Alliance is a community with over 500 professionals, including 120 organizations from 19 European countries (hospitals, universities, medical associations, 9 big pharma companies, HTAs, tech enterprises and 9 European patient organizations). When HARMONY started in 2017, the hematology community was embarking on a journey towards embracing data sharing and recognizing the transformative power of big data. HARMONY set a crucial milestone when this endeavor was only starting. By laying the foundation for future collaborations, advancements, and discoveries that would incorporate state-of-the-art technologies in the field of hematology, HARMONY is making its contribution to improve the understanding and treatment of blood disorders.

HARMONY has transformed both the sharing and use of data with the development of the Big Data Platform, that contains data from 93,000 patients and will include another 60,000 records soon. All data is protected using a unique anonymization and security process. In more than 30 research projects, groundbreaking research is being carried out with the help of advanced customized data analytic services, including AI modelling.

The impressive track record and the strong commitment of everyone involved in the Alliance provide a superb launchpad to bring hematology research and patient care to the next level. In a unique collaborative research foundation, the HARMONY Big Data Platform will be expanded with new services, including access to large longitudinal datasets, real-world evidence data, and virtual / in-silico data, and will facilitate further connection and collaboration with other data innovation initiatives.

Ultimately, this unique data-driven research infrastructure will allow us to define new outcome indicators, to facilitate post-authorization studies, and help healthcare professionals quickly determine the best personalized treatment and care for blood cancer patients.

Public interest ensured
The foundation will be public-benefit oriented. This will foster an inclusive and collaborative mindset as well as continuous involvement by ensuring that all current partners are considered equal members. Patients will be given a clear voice in the foundation and the patient-centered approach will remain paramount in all our research activities.