electroCore Announces Agreement with UpScript, LLC to be Exclusive Online Telehealth Provider for gammaCore Sapphire™ CV
electroCore, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECOR) has partnered with UpScript, LLC to provide exclusive telehealth services for its gammaCore Sapphire™ CV device, aimed at treating COVID-19 patients experiencing asthma-related breathing issues. Patients can access consultations and prescriptions via UpScript’s platform. This initiative comes under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), permitting the device's home use for eligible patients. The collaboration aims to streamline access to this therapy, enhancing patient care during the pandemic.
- Partnership with UpScript enables efficient patient access to gammaCore Sapphire™ CV.
- FDA Emergency Use Authorization promotes immediate therapy for COVID-19 related respiratory issues.
- EUA for gammaCore does not imply full FDA approval for treating COVID-19 conditions.
- Limited data on the efficacy of gammaCore for COVID-19 patients.
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Sept. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- electroCore, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECOR), a commercial-stage bioelectronic medicine company, today announced that it has entered into exclusive agreement with UpScript, LLC in which UpScript will serve as the exclusive online telehealth provider for gammaCore Sapphire™ CV (nVNS). Patients can access telehealth consults for the gammaCore Sapphire™ CV product effective immediately by visiting gammaCore.com or directly through getgammaCore.com.
“The execution of this agreement with UpScript achieves our goal of establishing an efficient procurement process for certain known or suspected COVID-19 patients to obtain this potentially beneficial therapy under the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) issued by the FDA,” stated Daniel Goldberger, Chief Executive Officer of electroCore. “Using UpScript’s comprehensive online telehealth platform, a patient has the ability to consult with a licensed healthcare provider in real time, and, if the therapy is deemed appropriate, have gammaCore Sapphire™ CV prescribed and shipped directly to his or her home.”
Pursuant to the EUA, the FDA has authorized use of the gammaCore Sapphire CV device for acute use at home or in a healthcare setting to treat adult patients with known or suspected COVID-19 who are experiencing exacerbation of asthma-related dyspnea and reduced airflow, and for whom approved drug therapies are not tolerated or provide insufficient symptom relief as assessed by their healthcare provider.
“At UpScript we work tirelessly to provide patients with a hassle-free way to consult with physicians and obtain therapies to improve the quality of their lives,” said Peter Ax, Chief Executive Officer of UpScript. “The availability of gammaCore Sapphire™ CV is an important addition to the armamentarium against the potentially devastating respiratory effects of COVID-19 infection in appropriate patients, and we are pleased that electroCore has chosen us to be their online telehealth partner for this novel therapy.”
To further support this telehealth initiative, a toll-free patient hotline has been established: 877-567-4913.
For more information, please visit gammaCore.com or getgammaCore.com.
About UpScript
UpScript provides a direct-to-consumer telemedicine platform for pharmaceutical and medical device companies and consumer products companies allowing for convenient access to high quality health care. In 2002, UpScript was the first company in the United States to be licensed to write prescriptions on the internet through an online physician consultation. Since then, it has treated more than a million consumers in all fifty states. Learn more at www.UpScriptHealth.com.
About gammaCore™
gammaCore™ (nVNS) is the first non-invasive, hand-held medical therapy applied at the neck as an adjunctive therapy to treat migraine and cluster headache through the utilization of a mild electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve that passes through the skin. Designed as a portable, easy-to-use technology, gammaCore can be self-administered by patients, as needed, without the potential side effects associated with commonly prescribed drugs. When placed on a patient’s neck over the vagus nerve, gammaCore stimulates the nerve’s afferent fibers, which may lead to a reduction of pain in patients.
gammaCore is FDA cleared in the United States for adjunctive use for the preventive treatment of cluster headache in adult patients, the acute treatment of pain associated with episodic cluster headache in adult patients, the acute treatment of pain associated with migraine headache in adult patients, and the prevention of migraine in adult patients. gammaCore is CE-marked in the European Union for the acute and/or prophylactic treatment of primary headache (Migraine, Cluster Headache, Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias and Hemicrania Continua) and Medication Overuse Headache in adults. In 2019, NICE published an evidence-based Medical Technology Guidance document recommending the use of gammaCore for cluster headache within NHS England.
- Safety and efficacy of gammaCore have not been evaluated in the following patients:
○ Patients diagnosed with narrowing of the arteries (carotid atherosclerosis)
○ Patients who have had surgery to cut the vagus nerve in the neck (cervical vagotomy)
○ Pediatric patients
○ Pregnant women
○ Patients with clinically significant hypertension, hypotension, bradycardia, or tachycardia
- Patients should not use gammaCore if they:
○ Have an active implantable medical device, such as a pacemaker, hearing aid implant, or any implanted electronic device
○ Have a metallic device such as a stent, bone plate, or bone screw implanted at or near their neck
○ Are using another device at the same time (e.g., TENS Unit, muscle stimulator) or any portable electronic device (e.g., mobile phone)
For additional safety information please see Instruction for Use here.
In the United States, the FDA has not cleared gammaCore for the treatment of pneumonia and/or respiratory disorders such as acute respiratory stress disorder associated with COVID-19.
Please refer to the gammaCore Instructions for Use for all of the important warnings and precautions before using or prescribing gammaCore.
The United States FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for acute use of the gammaCore Sapphire CV device at home or in a healthcare setting to treat adult patients with known or suspected COVID-19 who are experiencing exacerbation of asthma-related dyspnea and reduced airflow, and for whom approved drug therapies are not tolerated or provide insufficient symptom relief as assessed by their healthcare provider, by using non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on either side of the patient’s neck, available under an emergency access mechanism called an EUA.
gammaCore Sapphire CV has neither been cleared nor approved for acute use at home or in a healthcare setting to treat adult patients with known or suspected COVID-19 who are experiencing exacerbation of asthma-related dyspnea and reduced airflow, and for whom approved drug therapies are not tolerated or provide insufficient symptom relief as assessed by their healthcare provider, by using non-invasive Vagus nerve Stimulation (nVNS) on either side of the patient’s neck during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
gammaCore Sapphire CV has been authorized only for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of the emergency use of medical devices under section 564(b)(1) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360bbb-3(b)(1), unless the authorization is terminated or revoked.
Further information is available at:
Authorization Letter: https://www.fda.gov/media/139967/download
Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers: https://www.fda.gov/media/139968/download
Fact Sheet for Patients: https://www.fda.gov/media/139969/download
Instructions for gammaCore use https://www.fda.gov/media/139970/download
About electroCore, Inc.
electroCore, Inc. is a commercial stage bioelectronic medicine company dedicated to improving patient outcomes through its platform non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation therapy initially focused on the treatment of multiple conditions in neurology. The company’s current indications are the preventative treatment of cluster headache and migraine and acute treatment of migraine and episodic cluster headache.
For more information, visit www.electrocore.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the efficacy of gammaCore Sapphire™ CV for treating COVID-19 patients, electroCore's business prospects, sales and marketing, and product development plans, future cash flow projections, anticipated costs , its pipeline or potential markets for its technologies, the availability and impact of payer coverage, the potential product use for other indications, anticipated funding arrangements provided by the NHS, and other statements that are not historical in nature, particularly those that utilize terminology such as "anticipates," "will," "expects," "believes," "intends," other words of similar meaning, derivations of such words and the use of future dates. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the ability to raise the additional funding needed to continue to pursue electroCore’s business, sales and marketing, and product development plans, the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products or technologies, the ability to successfully commercialize gammaCore™, competition in the industry in which electroCore operates and overall market conditions. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and electroCore assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factor disclosure set forth in the reports and other documents electroCore files with the SEC available at www.sec.gov.
Investors:
Hans Vitzthum
LifeSci Advisors
617-430-7578
hans@lifesciadvisors.com
or
Media Contact:
Jackie Dorsky
electroCore
973-290-0097
FAQ
What is the new telehealth service for gammaCore Sapphire CV by electroCore?
When was the agreement with UpScript announced by electroCore?
What does the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization cover for gammaCore?
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What are the limitations of the gammaCore Sapphire CV's EUA?
