14 December 2022
Pill Connect dispenser supports clinical trial for personalised Tuberculosis care
Pill Connect the smart dosing technology provider, has today announced the completion of its first clinical trial in collaboration with the UMCG KFF Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology in the Netherlands.
Utilising Pill Connect’s Smart Dispenser technology, the study aimed to investigate if Digital Adherence Technology is feasible as a novel tool to monitor medication adherence and guide Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in patients with Tuberculosis (TB).
The standard treatment regimen for drug-susceptible TB takes 6-9 months and requires daily intake of multiple medications under the observation of a healthcare professional. However, this approach increases the cost of treatment exponentially, and presents real challenges in terms of patient wellbeing, with cure rates and outcomes continuing to remain suboptimal.
The study, to be published in the European Respiratory Journal, comprised of ten hospitalised TB patients who used DAT to self-administer a solid oral dose drug for 14 days of their TB treatment, with an overall dispense adherence of 99% being reported. This was a first clinical proof-of-concept study that evaluated the combined use of DAT and saliva sampling for TDM among TB patients in a hospital setting, showing that TB patients can use DAT with acceptable reliability.
“The results of this study are really promising” commented James Burnstone, CEO at Pill Connect. “Although the sample size was comparatively small, the study clearly demonstrated the efficacy of our technology in aiding adherence. It also gave us invaluable insights which have shaped some improvements in the design of the dispenser.”
Job van Boven and Onno Akkerman, Principle Investigators of the study at the University Medical Center Groningen commented “The use of the smart pill dispenser provides us with a novel opportunity to support TB patients’ empowerment and self-efficacy, while at the same time closely monitoring intake and optimizing drug dosing. A true example of more personalized TB care! Given the promising findings, we are currently designing a larger follow-up study with the improved pill bottle.”
The full details of the study can be found here: Combining digital adherence technology and therapeutic drug monitoring for personalised tuberculosis care | European Respiratory Society (ersjournals.com)