Trellus IBD program launches on GI OnDEMAND

Trellus Health plc

("Trellus Health" or the "Company")

Trellus IBD program launches on GI OnDEMAND

Partnership with leading GI virtual integrated care platform enables US gastroenterology practices
to deliver coordinated and personalized behavioral and nutritional support for IBD Patients

LONDON, U.K. AND NEW YORK, U.S. (19 October 2022): Trellus Health plc (AIM: TRLS), which is commercializing a scientifically validated, personalized resilience-driven self-management solution for chronic health conditions at their intersection with mental health, announces that the Trellus Resilience Training and Self-Management Solution for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (the "Trellus IBD program") is now available on GI OnDemand, gastroenterology's leading multidisciplinary virtual integrated care platform.

GI OnDEMAND, a joint venture between the American College of Gastroenterology ("ACG") and Gastro Girl, Inc., now offers the Trellus IBD program, to all GI OnDEMAND and ACG members nationwide to coordinate and deliver personalized behavioral, emotional and nutritional support for their IBD patients remotely via digital solutions, and access to an expert resilience team via telehealth. The Trellus IBD program will be the only resilience driven self-management training solution offered via this platform to over 16,000 gastrointestinal ("GI") professionals across the US for the benefit of the millions of patients they collectively serve.  

ACG champions the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of digestive disorders, serving to guide the delivery of the highest quality, compassionate and evidence-based patient care. It seeks to enhance the ability of its members to provide world class care to patients with digestive disorders and advance the profession through excellence and innovation.

The partnership with GI OnDEMAND forms a key part of Trellus Health's strategy to expand access to its self-management solution through multiple channels, including via healthcare providers and directly to patients, and is expected to prove to be a key channel to market for accessing D2C customers. Trellus Health intends to leverage the data generated on expected improvements in outcomes and on reductions in the cost of caring for GI patients, to support the wider rollout of its solution to both private and nationally funded healthcare payers.

Jacqueline Gaulin, Founder, Chief Strategy Officer, Gastro Girl/GI OnDEMAND said: "Our partnership with Trellus Health reflects a mutual passion for taking a multidisciplinary approach to patient care and an unwavering mission to make digestive health expertise, resources and support accessible to everyone. We look forward to working together with the Trellus team to further expand the awareness and reach of the Trellus IBD program so all patients with IBD have access to this personalized and evidence-based program that gives them the tools and the team to better manage their health and live well physically, emotionally and socially."

William Chey, MD, FACG, Chief, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Michigan Medicine and Senior Director, Nutrition and Behavioral Health Services, GI OnDEMAND, said: "GI OnDEMAND expands a provider's ability to deliver a first-in-class patient self-management solution for IBD. All of our members' patients can now have access to a digitally delivered, resilience based, self-management training program developed and validated at Mount Sinai (NY) to enable them to take charge of their health needs, access behavioral and emotional support in between office visits, and to experience better outcomes. This is exactly what our GI patients need."

Dr. Marla Dubinsky, Chief Executive Officer of Trellus Health, said: "I am delighted to launch our partnership with GI OnDemand which adds another significant growth channel under our D2C model to support the commercialization of the Trellus IBD Self-management Program. We will be the only resilience training solution offered to this network of over 16,000 US based GI professionals and alongside our licensing agreement with the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, the largest patient advocacy group for IBD in the US, we have already established the broadest possible reach into the US gastroenterological community, to access both patients and GI providers nationwide."

About the Trellus IBD program

Trellus Health is pioneering a scientifically validated, personalized resilience-driven self-management solution for chronic health conditions which addresses the intersection of chronic illness with mental health, estimated to cost the US economy $3.7 trillion annually.¹ The Trellus approach transforms chronic condition management and changes the lives of patients living with debilitating, incurable conditions, initially focused on IBD, including Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis, and shortly IBS, but with potential utility and demand across many chronic conditions.

The Trellus IBD program is a self-management solution driven by personalized resilience training. The program empowers and enables members to manage their condition by teaching them to set goals, actively identify challenges and solve problems associated with their condition, driving a change of health behavior to deliver improved outcomes and health status at lower cost.

Patients with IBD face many challenges which are common across many chronic conditions: the management of complex medication regimens, dealing with symptoms and disability, monitoring physical indicators, maintaining proper levels of nutrition, adjusting to the psychological and social demands including difficult lifestyle adjustments, as well as engaging in effective interactions with health providers.

Trellus's personalized resilience-driven self-management training programs are designed specifically for people looking to overcome these challenges. The aim is to provide better quality patient outcomes at a lower cost to health plans and employers, and the proprietary resilience method has been proven to reduce unplanned hospitalizations by 94% at the Mount Sinai IBD Center, New York, NY.²

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About Trellus Health plc (www.trellushealth.com)

Trellus Health (LSE: TRLS) is the first resilience based digital health company focused on the intersection of chronic illness and mental health. Trellus Health integrates its proprietary resilience-based methodology with the technology, tools and team to deliver a whole-person technology-enhanced experience that results in relieving disease burden, building self-management skills and promoting individual health behaviors that enable thriving in the face of a chronic condition. Through its TrellusElevate™ connected health platform and companion App, the company addresses both physical and behavioral health together, in context, to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs across the healthcare ecosystem.

The Company is initially focused on Inflammatory bowel disease ("IBD"), which includes the chronic incurable conditions of Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis, and shortly Irritable Bowel Syndrome ("IBS"), but, given the common struggles of self-management, considers its approach to have potential utility and demand across many chronic conditions.

The TrellusElevate™ platform is the Company's proprietary connected health platform that incorporates the GRITT™ methodology and learnings on resilience from clinical research and practice conducted at the Mount Sinai IBD Center for more than five years. This proprietary, resilience-driven methodology has been scientifically validated to demonstrate meaningful improvements in patient outcomes, 71% reduction in Emergency Department (A&E) visits, and 94% reduction in unplanned hospitalisations, which the directors of the Company believe indicates the potential for significant cost savings for healthcare payers. Patients with IBD treated using the methodology also experienced a 49% reduction in required opioid use and a 73% reduction in corticosteroid use 12 months following starting the program².

The Company was founded by Mount Sinai faculty members Marla C. Dubinsky, MD and Laurie Keefer, PhD, both with decades of combined experience in IBD and psychogastroenterology, respectively. Trellus Health's patent-pending GRITT™ resilience assessment and personalized resilience training methodology was developed and validated at the Mount Sinai Health System to build resilience and wellness for improved outcomes at lower cost.

Shares in Trellus Health were admitted to trading on AIM in May 2021, under the ticker TRLS. For more information on Trellus Health, visit:  www.trellushealth.com

1) Source: https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/costs/index.htm)

2) Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1542356521012258).

About GI OnDEMAND®

GI OnDEMAND is a joint venture between the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and Gastro Girl, Inc. As gastroenterology's leading multidisciplinary virtual care platform, GI OnDEMAND brings the full-ecosystem of GI experts, resources and support together for GI clinicians and patients. GI OnDEMAND makes it easier for GI practices to adopt a virtual integrated care model and amplify the expertise and value the practice brings to patients with access to vetted GI expert registered dietitians, GI psychologists, as well as genetic testing and expert genetic counselling. GI OnDEMAND also features telehealth capabilities, access to evidence-based educational programs.

About the American College of Gastroenterology Founded in 1932, the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) is an organization with an international membership of over 17,000 individuals from 86 countries. The College's vision is to be the preeminent professional organization that champions the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of digestive disorders, serving as a beacon to guide the delivery of the highest quality, compassionate, and evidence-based patient care. The mission of the College is to enhance the ability of our members to provide world class care to patients with digestive disorders and advance the profession through excellence and innovation based upon the pillars of Patient Care, Education, Scientific Investigation, Advocacy and Practice Management. www.gi.org

About Gastro Girl

Gastro Girl, Inc., is a patient-centric health company that empowers individuals to achieve optimal digestive health. Since 2016 Gastro Girl has served as the official patient education partner of The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG).  Gastro Girl and ACG expanded this partnership in 2019 to make digestive health expertise, resources and support available to everyone via GI OnDEMAND. In addition to connecting patients to GI experts- including gastroenterologists, registered dietitians, and psychologists via GI OnDEMAND, Gastro Girl delivers actionable and evidence-based health information and resources to help everyone achieve better health, including the Gastro Girl Podcast.  gastrogirl.com