Connected Drug Delivery
To remain relevant, all companies operating in pharmaceutical drug delivery should consider and develop a strategy for the connected world.
This is a core area of expertise at DCA.
Why connect?
Whether by supporting outcome-based payment models, or gaining data to better understand patient behaviour and product acceptance, connected devices promise to help improve the way drugs are delivered, targeted and even developed.
As diagnostic and monitoring techniques advance, healthcare professionals gain insights into their patient’s condition and how this is trending. But since most medicines are self-administered and compliance is often sub-optimal, it is important to understand how reliably an existing regimen is being followed before determining the direction of ongoing therapy. This is an important driver for connected drug delivery, but there are others too.
Connectivity can also encourage patients to track their own medicine usage and so improve confidence and compliance. It should also help to increase the competitiveness and flexibility of the pharmaceutical industry.
What should you consider?
The technological ecosystem now exists to monitor drug delivery devices reliably and unobtrusively. Low-power communication technologies such as BLE and NFC can provide ideal routes to transfer data, but there are many considerations and some pitfalls to avoid when determining how to connect a device.
Economics is a fundamental consideration, since any impact on device cost must always be justifiable against the value being added. This, in turn, leads to a complex matrix of considerations that must be carefully weighed when identifying the optimum connectivity solution. Of course, any solution must be assessed within the context of an increasingly complex intellectual property landscape.
Considerable multidisciplinary skills and knowledge are needed to successfully navigate these issues.
How we deliver connected devices
Many devices we develop at DCA include connectivity or allow for it. Our development process and working practices are tailored specifically to deliver these products in an efficient and compliant way.
Our procedures are certified to ISO 13485 and aligned with IEC 62304, ISO 14971, IEC 62366 and 21CFR820. We operate a strong matrix structure, which delivers real expertise across each of our disciplines and provides the flexibility and focus needed within all our project teams. Each project is led by a dedicated sector specialist, bringing breadth of experience in medical device development.
This approach allows us to tackle the development of even the most complex and innovative engineering systems with confidence and capability. As experts in the development of physical artefacts for digital ecosystems, we are the multidisciplinary partners that can help deliver your first or your next connected product.
How sophisticated should your system be?
Many medicines can be self-administered easily and effectively without excessive risk or significant training, but there are always exceptions and these are increasing.
The reasons for this are complex, but they include factors such as:
- Increasing life-spans leading to more complex comorbidities.
- Healthcare providers seeking to improve outcomes, or save money by encouraging treatment at home.
- Intensive therapeutic regimens targeting improved outcomes.
- Access to better information from diagnostics and environment monitors.
- A need to control of dose availability and user access for controlled or high risk/high value drugs.
For some patients this will create challenges, where the delivery of a therapy is at the limits of their capability and significant risks may result. In this context it can be predicted that we are poised to see an increase in the development of new generations of smarter drug delivery systems
Mapping your future product portfolio
Although they will be enabled by new digital technologies, smarter drug delivery devices are expected to be propelled by a desire to find new ways of solving healthcare problems, creating better outcomes at lower overall costs.
We anticipate that passive monitoring and communication functions will become augmented with more interactive, ‘smart’ features, capable of recognising patterns and responding to inputs from patients or monitoring devices. These new features may be targeted at improving compliance or technique, assisting in emergency situations or simplifying the management of complex conditions.
Creating a new breakthrough technology is challenging and often requires a series of innovative steps. As technology, strategy and development experts, at DCA we see further ahead than many. This enables us to identify and map out realistic future product scenarios. Our specialist teams work every day to help create and inform exciting new development opportunities for our clients over both short and longer timeframes.
Helping our clients achieve success through great product design
