Popit Develops Research Tool for COVID-19 Treatment
The telehealth startup’s platform streamlines the global effort of finding a treatment for COVID-19.
HELSINKI, FINLAND, MAY 7TH, 2020
Finnish MedTech and telehealth startup Popit has released a research extension that makes its platform an efficient tool for finding a treatment for COVID-19. The new enhancement called POPIT INSIGHTS™ provides unprecedented real-time data on how the medications being researched are taken. At the same time data quality is improved, since patients in the study take their medications more consistently thanks to Popit’s clinically validated adherence improvement impact. The new tool basically reduces missed pills and makes studies faster. Popit already has partners for the new product and is kicking off with first studies.
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the world’s scientific community has come together in an exceptional way. New studies to chart out possible treatments are constantly starting. Today, on May 7th, there are nearly 800 listed COVID-19 studies either starting or already active around the globe.1
Getting patients to take the study medications in a timely manner is highly important for research success.
On average each study has over 500 patients, biggest ones having over 40 000 participants. Getting all these patients to take the study medications in a timely manner is highly important for research success – and also for the patients themselves to benefit from the treatment. Considering the gravity of the matter it is surprising that only 43% of study patients may be adherent.2 Reminding the rest of the patients to take their medications and simply having data on if those medications were actually taken or missed have not been a part of the researchers’ toolbox.
Popit is now changing that with POPIT INSIGHTS™, an extension to the company’s existing medication adherence platform already used by the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, such as Novartis and Pfizer. The new solution offers a way to monitor how medication is being consumed, remind the patient if necessary, and gather study data remotely and in real time. On top of that the deployment is easy and quick.
The researchers were struggling with the same problems we already had a tool for.
Teemu Piirainen, Popit’s CEO explains further: “The company and our initial product were created on the foundation that we want to make medication connected. When the COVID situation escalated, we started to think of ways to refine our existing solution already used by pharma to serve the research community as well. The researchers were struggling with the same problems we already had a tool for: how to get the patient to take medications better and a sophisticated way to remotely and securely get data on if the medication was taken or not.”
First partners who sign up get the tools at a zero cost.
“It just seemed like something we had to build. And now it’s available. Anyone who is starting a medication study right now should get in touch with us. We want to contribute and the first partners who sign up get the tools at a zero cost. This is our way of pitching in and we’re already starting on different continents”, continues Piirainen.
Important request
While in some parts of the world the pandemic is starting to be more controllable, Popit requests to take extra care not to miss personal medications at this time, as up to 10% of hospitalizations are due to missing regular doses3. The admissions resulting from this poor adherence cause needless burden on the already heavily strained healthcare system. Medication can only work if it’s taken.
About Popit:
Popit is a pioneer in improving patient adherence through smart consumer devices. The Company is dedicated to improving adherence by digitizing medication, a major opportunity that offers benefits for patients, healthcare payors and pharmaceutical companies. Popit works with the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies.
Media contact: Timo Heikkilä, Co-founder
Email: timo popit io
Web: https://popit.io/popit-adherence-kit-for-medication-research/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/popitmed
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/popitmed
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/popit-ltd/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/popitmed
References:
1. https://covid-trials.com/
2. Osterberg L, Blaschke T. N Engl J Med. 2005;353:487–97
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29666309
