Wireless pill bottle wins Boehringer challenge
pharmafile | May 29, 2013 | News story | Medical Communications |Â Â Boehringer, brett wells, wirelessÂ
Developers of a pill bottle that wirelessly measures medication and sends patient reminders have emerged as prize-winners in a Healthcare Innovation World Cup.
Funded by Boehringer Ingelheim, the international diabetes innovation challenge was organised by public health teaching and research organisation HITLAB.
The data transmitting device won the cup for team members Josh Stein, John Langhauser and Mike Morena of Team AdhereTech from the US, who will also receive $50,000 in prize money.
They earned the top spot by demonstrating the exceptional impact, innovation, feasibility and financial sustainability of their idea, and for engaging with community members via social media.
“We are impressed with AdhereTech’s prototype and the feasibility of their business model, and believe the solution has merit in supporting medication adherence,” said Klaus Wilgenbus, senior vice president, PM business development and licensing strategy at Boehringer, who was also a Healthcare Innovation World Cup judge.
AdhereTech created the wireless pill bottles to help improve medication adherence, and according to the firm the bottles measure the exact number of pills in the bottle in real-time, wirelessly send this HIPAA-compliant data into the cloud, and remind patients to take their medication via automated phone call or text message.
The devices also record and send adherence data with an unprecedented level of granularity. The company will begin a trial in the summer with The Walter Reed Army Medical Center to test its full-service solution for type II diabetes patients.
Other finalists in the competition were Team IITKgp, who came second place earning $10,000 for developing a non-invasive blood glucose measurement device based on photoacoustic spectroscopy, to enable painless, sample-free and accurate glucose measurement for diabetics.
SmartSense came in third place winning $5,000, which is a multianalyte sensing device for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). It is being developed to sense all the metabolites necessary for management of the condition with a single prick. According to team members, it is designed to reduce the pain and economic burden faced by patients with DKA.
Wilgenbus added: “All of the finalists demonstrated outstanding quality and ingenuity in developing their solutions. It is evident that they are committed to creating innovations with the potential to make a real difference in the lives of people with diabetes and their families.”
Brett Wells
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