Smart Medication Technologies For Clinical Trials

In addition to Clinichain’s medical equipment and wearable technologies service for global clinical trials, we see the need for medication to also be measured during a clinical trial. Previously, clinical site personnel or home site nurses registered medication measurements on paper, nowadays connected measuring techniques are used to remotely measure whether people have taken their medication.

It has been shown that almost half of patients in clinical trials are not adherent to the medication prescription. This could mean that there is a real probability that medication which works won’t get approved just because people didn’t take them as prescribed. A medication not reaching the market is not only a financial disaster for the sponsor but prevents patients accessing a drug that could improve quality of life, and potentially even extend their lives.

With the transition of traditional studies to virtual and patient centric studies we experience great benefits in the use of technologies within patient centric studies. Connected devices and smart medication technologies can ensure that medication monitoring no longer has to be completed on location, but can be analyzed remotely. Results are, therefore, more reliable and studies may focus more on qualitative data acquired from patients.
Clinichain has selected three examples of innovative connected medication and tools for (global) clinical trials.

Smart Connected Pillbox
If a patient in a clinical trial misses, or is late, with a dose the blood concentration levels of the medication will be lower than what they should be in order to get the best possible treatment effect. If this happens frequently the medication won’t treat the condition as well as it has the potential to. To decrease the risk of failing clinical trials, CRO’s and sponsors use smart pillboxes with a mobile app for home based clinical trials. The smart pillbox has 14 compartments with sensors that detect whether the dose has been taken or not. Due to the smart pillbox technology you only get a reminder when you are about to miss a dose, thus preventing unnecessarily confounding the medication treatment effect. With this type of technology attention is maintained at a higher degree compared to an app that reminds you to take your dose every time, even if you have taken it.

Connected eye drop measurement
Currently, there is still a very poor compliance in administering eye drops. A solution for this is wireless real-time monitoring solution for single-use eye drop vials. The connected device records when a patient inserts single-use eyedrop vials, which transmits the information to a secured cloud. This can be read out centrally to analyze if a patient took their eye drop medication.
The device records the time of medication administration and transmit the data wireless in real-time to a centralized service. The patients’ activities can be review and monitored by the site personal or sponsor. The dashboard is interoperable with most commercial EDC systems. The system has automated text and voice reminders, together with a patient adherence index. Alerts and times for taking doses can be send. This solution includes a connection to smartphone and location tracking. Tailored integration of the raw data into the EDC can be programmed to the needs of the specific clinical trials end point needs of the Biotech or CRO.

Connected inhalers
Patients with COPD and Asthma have a continuous need for inhalers. With connected inhalers, patients can easily be monitored and assessed from a distance. This creates more engagement during clinical trials and controls a reliable way of recording the usage of inhalations. In addition, this solution also gathers new insights and tailored, specific patient-centered notifications can be send at the right time. As a result, study data from clinical trials obtained through connected inhalers may become be more reliable and valid.

Conclusion
Smart medication and connected measure technologies will be a big part of future clinical studies and home based healthcare. Real-time insights will improve the reliability of data, enhancing the validity of clinical trial outcomes.

Would you like to know how Clinichain can support your global studies remotely with these smart medication technologies? Please feel free to contact us for an eHealth device solution and / or a global clinical equipment rental options. We look forward to hearing from you.