Washington, Nov 15 (AFP) US regulators have approved thefirst pill that contains a digital tracking sensor to alertdoctors and caregivers as to whether a patient is taking amedication as scheduled.
The pill, called Abilify MyCite (aripiprazole tabletswith sensor), is designed for patients with schizophrenia,bipolar disorder and depression, according to the US Food andDrug Administration.
A patient ingests the pill, and a sensor inside the pillactivates when it reaches the stomach fluids, sending amessage to a wearable patch.
This patch then transmits the information to a mobileapp, so that a doctor and up to four caregivers, friends orfamily members can see the information through a web-basedportal.
"Being able to track ingestion of medications prescribedfor mental illness may be useful for some patients," saidMitchell Mathis, director of the division of psychiatryproducts in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research,in a statement yesterday.
"The FDA supports the development and use of newtechnology in prescription drugs and is committed to workingwith companies to understand how technology might benefitpatients and prescribers."Although the sensor can alert caregivers, the makers ofAbilify, Japan-based Otsuka Pharmaceutical, said it is unclearwhether the tracking device will actually help improvepatients' ability to take their medication daily asprescribed.
The FDA approved Abilify in 2002 to treat schizophrenia,which affects about one per cent of the US population.
The ingestible sensor used in Abilify MyCite was firstallowed on the market by the FDA in 2012.
The sensor technology and patch are made by ProteusDigital Health, and are approved for use with existingmedications in the United States and Europe.
But until now, the FDA had not approved a sensor-pillcombination.
Some experts raised questions about the choice of Abilifyas the drug in which to test the sensor.
"Patients with a tendency towards paranoia may feel a bituncomfortable being monitored in this fashion," said SethMandel, chairman of psychiatry at Northwell Health'sHuntington Hospital in New York.
"Patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia arevery often non-compliant with their medication and the resultis almost always a relapse," he added.
"Still overall, this seems to potentially be asignificant advance in our never-ending struggle to improvepatient adherence to psychotropic medication." (AFP)AJR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.