Proteus Digital Health has awarded funding to Haesuk Park, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy, to study the effectiveness of recently FDA-approved digital medicine, Abilify MyCite.
Abilify MyCite consists of an adhesive patch, a smartphone app and aripiprazole pills embedded with ingestible sensors. Once taken, the pill’s sensor signals the patch, which is worn on the patient’s abdomen, and sends information to the patient’s smartphone via Bluetooth. The patient can then choose to send the information to his or her doctor to track adherence.
The digital health solution is being pioneered with aripiprazole, which is used to treat schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, but Park hopes it can have an impact in other areas as well.
“We hope to see digital medicine help increase medication adherence and lower blood pressure and hemoglobin A1c, and eventually, lead to improved health and economic outcomes in patients with cardiovascular and metabolic conditions,” she said.
Park will use data from patients at Barton Health in California to evaluate the real-world impact of digital health offering on adherence, clinical and economic outcomes and health care utilization.