Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced a new collaboration with US-based Medisafe to help its cardiometabolic patients better manage medication intake and adhere to prescribed treatment regimens. In the countries of scope Merck patients will have access to a customized version of Medisafe's mobile platform that could combine reminders, motivation and support systems, targeted content, coupons and interventions in their local language.
"This is an extremely important step towards realizing our vision of supporting patients with comprehensive, integrated, value-added services that look beyond medicines to improve treatment outcomes. We are confident that offering such a solution to our patients has the potential to significantly improve medication adherence by giving patients and carers the tools to organize, understand and manage their medications," said Simon Sturge, Chief Operating Officer at Merck's Biopharma business.
Medisafe is a leading medication management and adherence solution co-owned by M Ventures, which has been named top app for medication management by November 2017 IQVIA (Quintiles IMS) report. It has received endorsements from the American Pharmacy Association, Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR), and Ranked Health. Medisafe has already delivered high rates of adherence across multiple disease areas, and recorded significant improvements - notably, 86% of Stage 2 hypertensive users reduced their risk category to Stage 1 or below.(1)
This digital solution will complement Merck’s current offering of Primary Care medicines for cardiometabolic conditions, which includes treatments for type 2 diabetes, thyroid disorders, and cardiovascular diseases. Although many medications are effective in combating chronic diseases, their full benefits are often not realized by the patients. Approximately 50% of patients do not adhere to long-term therapies,(2,3) and this percentage is much higher in developing countries.(3) A systematic review of anti-diabetic therapies found wide-ranging adherence rates between 36% to 93%.(4) This is of great concern when adherence to medication is critical to positive outcomes.
Factors contributing to poor medication adherence are myriad and include those that are related to patients, physicians and healthcare systems, so improving adherence requires a continuous and dynamic process.(3) Because of this complex matrix of factors, our knowledge of the underlying causes of poor medication adherence is still very limited. The collaboration with Medisafe offers the possibility to reveal new overall insights into patients’ behaviour, through data collected by Medisafe, which may contribute to improved chronic disease management in the future.
Brazil, Russia and Mexico are the first three countries where patients receiving Merck's primary care medicines will have access to a customized version of Medisafe. Globally, around 60 million patients with chronic conditions are estimated to be treated with Merck’s medications daily.
About Medisafe
Medisafe is a leading medication management and adherence solution co-owned by M Ventures. It has more than 4 million registered users, 4 billion patient data points and 140,000 apple store reviews with a 4.5-5 rating. It has received endorsements from the American Pharmacy Association, Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR), and Ranked Health. In addition, Medisafe is HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant with the latest ISO 27001 security protection for patient data. In a recent study, its usage resulted in a 20% rise in prescription refills versus control (IMS Study).5 It is, therefore, not surprising that Medisafe has been named top app for medication management by November 2017 IQVIA (Quintiles IMS) report.
About Merck
Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life - from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2017, Merck generated sales of € 15.3 billion in 66 countries.Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.
1. Medisafe website. Available at: https://medisafe.com/research/ Accessed January 2018
2. Brown MT, Bussell JK. Medication Adherence: WHO Cares? Mayo Clin Proc. 2011 Apr; 86:304-314.
3. World Health Organization. Adherence to Long-Term Therapies. Evidence for Action Geneva: World Health Organization; 2003. Available at: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2003/9241545992.pdf Accessed January 2017.
4. Cramer JA. A systematic review of adherence with medications for diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2004; 27:1218-1224.
5. Medisafe website. Available at: https://medisafe.com/research/case-study-medisafe-platform-app-increase-medication-adherence/ Accessed January 2018.