AARDEX Group has joined the IT4Anxiety project to monitor the medication adherence of people with neurodegenerative diseases or post-traumatic stress disorder in daily clinical practice.
IT4Anxiety is working to reduce the anxiety of patients suffering from mental disorders through the use of technology. AARDEX will lead one of 10 solutions being developed as part of the project, positioning it to bring its expertise in medication event monitoring systems to the collaboration.
“With the use of powerful algorithms, we can detect a change in patient behavior through the smart packages. This change in behavior is highly associated with medication interruptions. With the use of these modules within our connected packages, we can predict and help identify this risk, minimizing medication interruption by intervention,” Bernard Vrijens, CEO and scientific lead at AARDEX Group, said.
AARDEX’s general process for central nervous system studies is to measure adherence using smart pill bottles, blister packs, and other packaging formats. The data feeds into the software, which recognizes poor medication adherence and flags if any potential intervention is needed.
The Belgian company has been involved in around 1,000 research projects, including studies in anxiety and neurological disorders, that have led to more than 820 peer-reviewed publications. That experience has convinced AARDEX that feeding information on medication adherence to healthcare professionals is the most effective way to support compliance.
“In practice, there is a need to triage patients so that part of the process is digitally measured and the other part of it will require a personal review with an HCP. We find that if the information can be fed back to the patient from HCPs regularly this can be even more effective for medication adherence rates in this therapy area,” Vrijens said.
The success of the process rests on the generation of data by patients. Done badly, that key step in the process could add to the burdens on patients, a particular concern when dealing with anxiety. AARDEX is focused on ensuring its technology avoids that potential pitfall.
“We believe that success is when the patients are happy to use our smart packages with it being frictionless and it does not cause additional burden. The patient’s ability to use the packaging freely and without overthinking is our main priority. This results in reliable data being collected for HCPs and sites to monitor and analyze,” Vrijens said.
