Nearly half of all Phase III pharmaceutical clinical trials fail, partly because data about patient adherence is hard to come by.
That’s according to computer giant Oracle (ORCL), which has teamed with and ingestible sensor developer Proteus Digital Health to track whether patients are taking medication. Rather than relying on self-reporting and lab tests, Proteus Location will now use integrated Oracle Health Sciences’ software to monitor patient compliance and transmit dosage needs.
More efficient and accurate clinical trial data capture could transform the drug development and approval process, Steve Rosenberg, senior vice president and general manager of Oracle Health Sciences, said in a statement.
The agreement with Oracle is a first for Proteus’ digital health feedback system. The FDA approved Proteus Digital Health's ingestible biosensor for monitoring drug compliance in 2012, blurring the line between the world of pharmaceuticals and medical devices in the way that no device had before. In July 2014, Proteus announced it had raised more than $172 million in private equity, including money from Oracle.
Proteus encapsulates medication within itsingestible sensors, which it makes from food-based ingredients activated by stomach fluids. Patients wear a patch that collects medication ingestion data from the sensor and transmits it via a Bluetooth device to a data center, where it is routed securely to the Oracle Health Sciences InForm study database, according to Oracle. Both companies are based in Redwood City, CA.
Proteus has entered partnerships with companies like Otsuka Pharmaceutical and Novartis to advance concept of sensor-containing drug capsules.
Other companies are teaming up to wirelessly monitor patient health. Last week, Qualcomm Lifeannounced partnerships with pharmaceutical company Novartis and drugstore chain Walgreens.
Novartis will use Qualcomm Life’s 2net technology to upload patient data from medical devices during clinical trials and transmit them securely via a cloud-based platform to the Novartis study coordinator.
Qualcomm will use the same technology to connect Walgreens’ mobile and Web applications to the medical device and care coordination parts of the drug store chain’s customer loyalty program. Within the Walgreen apps, Qualcomm Life’s 2net platform will securely transmit data from blood pressure cuffs and blood glucose meters to pharmacists for remote patient monitoring, transitional care support and chronic care management, Qualcomm said.
Covidien announced in late 2013 that it was spending $860 million to buy Yoqneam, Israel–based Given Imaging, maker of the PillCam swallowed capsule endoscope. The capsule was designed to replace the traditional colonoscopy.
