Press Releases
Elucid Digital Health reduces smart Pill Connect bottle to a smart cap dispenser which can fit on any medicine bottle
- The Elucid Digital Health screw on dispenser cap + app prompts compliance, messages patients, records temperature and humidity and provides real time reports for doctors or monitors
- Compliance in clinical trials is a serious problem with patients failing to comply - deteriorating as the trial progresses
- Non-compliance is estimated by the OECD to cause 200,000 premature deaths in Europe and estimated to cost E 125 billion in EU $105 billion in the US annually in avoidable hospitalisations, emergency care, and outpatient visits.
Elucid Digital Health has shrunk its ground-breaking smart pill bottle to a patented dispenser cap which can be made to screw on to any pill bottle. With interest from three major pharmas for use in clinical trials and two others who want to use it for high value medicines Elucid Digital Health is planning further trials to show that the new dispensing smart cap provides the robustness of – 100% reliability – the bottle.
Pill Connect, was developed to prompt patients to take their medications on time and to send a report back to the doctor to advise them of their patients adherence record. The prompt comes from an app on their mobile phone which when acknowledged ejects a pill or capsule from the bottle through the dispensing cap. Should the patient not wish to take their medication due to illness or an adverse reaction they can respond through the app.
What is unique about the Pill Connect system as well as providing a detailed adherence record is that it allows for an immediate intervention by an automated text or phone call should the app not be activated.
This could really help in clinical trials where poor compliance can compromise the validity of the trial. It is well known that compliance rapidly declines over time and in longer studies, more than nine months, can drop off a cliff. The Pill Connect system allows monitors to not only know when it happens but have the opportunity to intervene and talk to the person to see what can be done to help them become more compliant. The monitor has access to a complete dashboard covering the whole trial so that everyone involved can be advised in real time of the rate of compliance or issues which effect compliance.
Two other pharmas are looking to trial the Pill Connect system with very high value medicines and with medicines where compliance is critical.
Figures from the OECD (OECD Health Working Paper No.105) shows that poor adherence contributes to nearly 200 000 premature deaths in Europe per year, with an estimated cost E 125 billion in EU $105 billion in the US in avoidable hospitalisations, emergency care, and outpatient visits.
Elucid Digital Heath CEO James Burnstone commented “We believe that reducing the pill dispensing mechanism from a bottle to a cap means that any pharma can now use the Pill Connect system without having to make changes to their existing production lines. While we have not yet determined a final price it will be very cost effective in reducing trial failures which can result in delays and failures costing millions.”
How the Pill Connect system works
- Preparation –A) The patient is shown in person or by video how the Pill Connect system works and how to load the app onto their mobile phone (iPhone or android).
B) The patient either is sent or collects the bottle of pills or capsules plus the Pill Connect cap. The patient then unscrews the cap of the pill bottle and screws in the smart cap.
- Patient use -The patient receives a reminder to take one pill or capsule or more via the app at a pre-determined time. The patient takes off the lid responds to the reminder and the medication is ejected from the bottle and the data is sent to a control centre.
- Side effects – If the patient is unwell or believes that they are suffering from a side effect of the medication they have the option to not take the pill and through the app tell the investigator or doctor why.
- Further prompts - If the patient does not respond or has a reason why they can’t take the medication, a text or call can be made, automatically or manually, to prompt adherence or find out more.
- Comprehensive data - The doctor, monitor or administrator has comprehensive data on each patients dispensing pattern.
- Safety – The smart cap is locked outside the prescribed times to prevent double dosing. However the patient can unscrew the cap if they have left their phone behind or it is not charged. Should that occur a message will be sent – when connected again - to the monitors.
About the technology
The dispensing mechanism in the smart cap can be adjusted to handle pills or capsules of different sizes. The dispensing cap can be made to fit on any size pill bottle. The app can be loaded onto android or apple phones.
About Elucid Digital Health
Elucid Digital Health is a health technology company based in Manchester, UK developing smart solutions to improve patient care. Pill Connect, Elucid’s smart dispensing system which aims to improve and monitor patient adherence, is running a series of clinical trials over the course of the next few months with interested parties.
