Health Business Blog

I was fairly amazed when Boniva –a once-a-month treatment for osteoporosis– was introduced a couple of years back. Now the FDA has approved a treatment that only has to be taken once a year! Reclast, made by Novartis does have to be infused, which is a bit of a downside.

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Informedix and McKesson Bioservices are testing the Med-eMonitor, which reminds patients to take their medicine, and can be programmed to ask for patient-specific information. The device communicates automatically with a web server.

According to CIO Insight:

The device is about the size of a videocassette and can be carried in a fanny pack. Multiple drawers each hold about a month’s supply of medicine. It alerts the patients when to take medicine, records the date and time when a medicine drawer is opened, and prompts patients to answer questions and complete other tasks.

The CEO of Informedix, Bruce Kehr says he thought up the Med-eMonitor after seeing his elderly grandmother struggle to manage her multiple drug therapy. Doctors often don’t know what to do when they see patients who aren’t responding to treatment –are the medications not working or are patients just not taking them as directed?

The device is being used now in a schizophrenia trial, where it is helping patients remember to take their schizophrenia medications. This has a big impact on the patients’ ability to function.

The Med-eMonitor and once a month osteoporosis pill (Boniva) I posted about on Monday are contrasting approaches to the challenges of adherence and compliance. The Med-eMonitor attempts to manage complex regimens, while Boniva attempts to reduce the complexity.

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Boniva, a once a month pill for osteoporosis, has won Food and Drug Administration approval, according to the Wall Street Journal. Existing products must be taken at least weekly.

Introducing more convenient dosing is a popular strategy. It provides real benefits to consumers by making it easier to stay on the medication. This is especially true for bisphosphonates such as Boniva and Merck’s Fosamax, because the patient needs to remain upright for 30-60 minutes following administration. It’s also good for drug companies, because it often enables them to extend an existing, proven compound and charge the same amount per patient per year despite selling fewer pills. This is less risky and costly than developing a new compound and helps stave off generic competition.

Boniva breaks new ground by being the first oral treatment for any chronic condition that is taken as infrequently as once a month. Usually, achieving such a dosing interval has required injection. In fact, Novartis is working on a once a year injection for osteoporosis.

Roche Holding developed the drug and it will be marketed by GlaxoSmithKline.

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