A wireless pill bottle that measures medication and sends patients reminders has taken the top price in the Healthcare Innovation World Cup.
AdhereTech’s winning entry in the Boehringer Ingelheim-funded prize, which covers innovation in diabetes, aims to improve medication adherence by measuring the exact number of pills or liquid in the bottle in real-time.
It then wirelessly sends this data into the cloud and reminds patients to take their medication via automated phone call or text message.
AdhereTech’s wireless pill bottle will this summer enter a trial in a US medical centre to test its capability as a full-service solution for type 2 diabetes patients.
Klaus Wilgenbus, senior VP, business development and licensing strategy at Boehringer Ingelheim and Healthcare Innovation World Cup judge, said: “We are impressed with AdhereTech’s prototype and the feasibility of their business model, and believe the solution has merit in supporting medication adherence.
“All of the finalists demonstrated outstanding quality and ingenuity in developing their solutions. It is evident that they are committed to creating innovations with the potential to make a real difference in the lives of people with diabetes and their families.”
The winning AdhereTech team of Josh Stein, John Langhauser and Mike Morena will now receive $50,000 in prize money, having demonstrated the impact, innovation, feasibility and financial sustainability of their idea.
Runners up in the Healthcare Innovation World Cup, which was organised by HITLAB, were teams from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (for their non-invasive blood glucose measurement device), SmartSense (multianalyte sensing device for diabetic ketoacidosis) and EndoGoal (mobile and web-based rewards programme).
