DoseCue aim: Reduce miscues

www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/print-edition/2010/11/05/dosecue-aim-reduce-miscues.html

Premium content from Philadelphia Business Journal - by John George

Date: Thursday, November 4, 2010, 10:41am EDT

About half of the more than 2 billion prescriptions filled each year are not taken correctly by patients, according to a study by the National Council for Patient Information and Education.

The biggest problem in treating illness today is the failure of patients to take their medicine properly, according to the American Heart Association.

Hospital costs resulting from patient noncompliance in taking medicines are estimated at $8.5 billion annually, according to the Journal of Applied Research.

Mark Burrows is the founder and CEO of a Philadelphia company, DoseCue, whose mission is to bring those numbers way down.

DoseCue was one of about 40 emerging life sciences companies to give presentations to potential investors, partners and customers at last week’s Biotech 2010 conference in Center City hosted by Pennsylvania Bio and BioNJ.

Founded in early 2009, DoseCue has developed an automatic dose-time reminder device for medication containers that alerts people when it’s time to take their medicine.

“The usual interventions [to improve adherence with taking prescriptions as ordered by a doctor] are aimed at changing patient behavior,” said Burrows, who invented the company’s device. Those interventions include measures such as reminder phone calls or e-mail alerts. “We changed the product to fit patient behavior,” Burrows said. “We take patient behavior out of the mix.”

The patented DoseCue technology is integrated directly into manufacturers’ current containers during filling. Circuitry contained in a micro-USB cord, which takes about 30 seconds to program, is attached to the container and provides automatic reminder cues — in the form of reminder lights — to a patient when a medication needs to be dosed, and signals when the dose has been taken.

DoseCue presented study data last year, at Biotech 2009 in Philadelphia, that showed that DoseCue’s device improved patient compliance with oral-dose medications by about 10 percent.

“People don’t order a refill until they run out of a product, so a 10 percent increase in compliance is a 10 percent increase in consumption,” Burrows said. “For a blockbuster drug like [AstraZeneca’s cholesterol medicine] Crestor, an additional 10 percent would mean another $500 million in revenues.”

Dana Wolcott, vice president of new product development, noted improved compliance also keeps patients with chronic health conditions healthier — and a customer of a company’s product longer.

Burrows added improved compliance also reduced costs to the entire health-care system by keeping patients out of the hospital, where care is expensive. “When people [with heart conditions] don’t stay on their meds, they are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke,” he said.

Dr. Daniel A. Hussar, a professor of pharmacy at University of the Sciences’ Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, said patients’ noncompliance with medication is a problem that goes back decades.

“Patient compliance with the use of medications is a huge challenge to the point some have designated it as America’s other drug problem and second only to drug abuse,” Hussar said. “There are numerous factors that contribute to noncompliance. Patients may not have been provided with enough information to clearly understand how their medications should be used. Conditions such as high-blood pressure and high cholesterol are not usually associated with specific symptoms and patients do not feel any differently if they stop taking the medication; therefore, they may not have the motivation to start taking it again.”

Hussar said patients need to talk with their pharmacist so they understand the importance of taking the medication in the manner that results in the greatest benefit and least risk.

DoseCue’s biggest challenge to date has been figuring out where they fit in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

Burrows said ultimately the pharmaceutical makers should be the customer, since they stand to gain the most from patients using their technology. The company is initially looking to work with specialty pharmaceutical providers that distribute high-cost drugs — making adherence even more important — to patients, typically with chronic health conditions and complex-care issue.

DoseCue also sees an opportunity to have its device used in clinical trials, testing experimental drugs to improve study results. Burrows noted the company has a deal with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which is using the devices in a multiyear, multisite drug study.

Burrows started out in the electronics industry. Before founding DoseCue, he directed a startup compliance company called DataRich in partnership with an Atlanta-based packaging company. It failed to get the necessary funding to remain viable. Before starting DoseCue, which is self-funded to date, he worked as a management consultant and as director of business development for Sarnoff Corp.

Other members of the company’s leadership team include: Wolcott, who had a 30-year career at Kodak where he was in charge of the team responsible for invention and development of one-time-use cameras; Carl Wheeldon, who leads the DoseCue advisory board and was formerly vice president of global manufacturing for Warner-Lambert, where he played a key role in the initial launch of Lipitor; and Steven Shaya, vice president of technology, who was previously vice president in the corporate office of science and technology for Johnson & Johnson.