Kyowa Kirin Announces Patient Education Grant Program to Address Disparities for African-American Patients with Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphomas (CTCL)

BEDMINSTER, N.J., July 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kyowa Kirin Pharmaceutical Research, Inc., an affiliate of Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. (Kyowa Kirin, TSE: 4151) a global specialty pharmaceutical company, is establishing a general grant program to support the education of African-American patients about cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) and address racial disparities in diagnosis, treatment and outcomes. Studies have shown that African-American patients present symptoms of CTCL at an earlier age, and overall survival is significantly shorter for African-American patients with MF, when compared to patients of European descent.^1,2 The goal of the grant program is to identify and fund meaningful projects that can help diminish these disparities.

Kyowa Kirin is seeking project proposals that can help to close gaps in awareness and understanding of CTCL among African-American communities, including its prevalence and epidemiology, risk factors, diagnosis and care pathways, and improve outreach. Applications for funds are due by August 20, 2020.

"New data, targeted outreach and education is needed to address barriers and increase awareness among African-Americans so they can be diagnosed at an earlier stage," says Lauren Walrath, Senior Director, Head of Public Affairs, North America. "Kyowa Kirin is seeking to sponsor work that can have a profound patient impact. We hope this grant program will encourage researchers and organizations with an interest in helping the African-American patient community improve outcomes."

Kyowa Kirin encourages proposals from the following individuals or organizations who are focused on a mission related to patient education and/or healthcare improvement: Patient advocacy organizations or non-profit foundations; organizations dedicated to African-American empowerment and/or healthcare; public health/social work/nursing/pharmacy schools or students within these schools; healthcare institutions (both large and small); and other entities with a mission related to patient education and/or healthcare improvement.

Kyowa Kirin will make $100,000 available in funds to support these initiatives over a six-month period, starting October 1, 2020. Individual projects requesting up to $35,000 will be considered.

Proposals and questions should be submitted to the North America Grant Review Committee mailbox at grantrequests.na@kyowakirin.com by August 20, 2020.

Please see our detailed Request for Grant Proposal attached and at this link: https://www.kyowakirin.com/sustainability/community_involvement/access_to_health_and_nutrition/pdf/REQUEST_FOR_GRANT_PROPOSALS.pdf

About Kyowa Kirin
Kyowa Kirin commits to innovative drug discovery driven by state-of-the-art technologies. Kyowa Kirin focuses on creating new value in four therapeutic areas: nephrology, oncology, immunology/allergy and neurology. Under the Kyowa Kirin brand, the employees from 40 group companies across North America, Europe and Asia/Oceania unite to champion the interests of patients and their caregivers in discovering solutions wherever there are unmet medical needs. Since 2018, the company has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for three first-in-class medicines. You can learn more about the business of Kyowa Kirin at https://www.kyowakirin.com.

¹ Litvinov IV, Tetzlaff MT, Rahme E, et al. Demographic patterns of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma incidence in Texas based on two different cancer registries. Cancer Med. 2015;4(9):1440–1447. doi:10.1002/cam4.472 
² Nath SK , Yu JB, Wilson LD. Poorer prognosis of African-American patients with mycosis fungoides: an analysis of the SEER dataset, 1988 to 2008. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. 2014;14(5):419–423. doi:10.1016/j.clml.2013.12.018

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SOURCE Kyowa Kirin, Inc.