Green Energy
If I want chips in my body I'll open a bag of Fritos thank you very much. . .
Reuters:
Look out, your medicine is watching you
By Ben Hirschler
NEW YORK Mon Nov 8, 2010 5:29pm EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Novartis AG plans to seek regulatory approval within 18 months for a pioneering tablet containing an embedded microchip, bringing the concept of "smart-pill" technology a step closer.
The initial program will use one of the Swiss firm's established drugs taken by transplant patients to avoid organ rejection. But Trevor Mundel, global head of development, believes the concept can be applied to many other pills.
"We are taking forward this transplant drug with a chip and we hope within the next 18 months to have something that we will be able to submit to the regulators, at least in Europe," Mundel told the Reuters Health Summit in New York.
"I see the promise as going much beyond that," he added.
Novartis agreed in January to spend $24 million to secure access to chip-in-a-pill technology developed by privately owned Proteus Biomedical of Redwood City, California, putting it ahead of rivals.
The biotech start-up's ingestible chips are activated by stomach acid and send information to a small patch worn on the patient's skin, which can transmit data to a smartphone or send it over the Internet to a doctor.
Mundel said the initial project was focused on ensuring that patients took drugs at the right time and got the dose they needed -- a key issue for people after kidney and other transplant operations, when treatment frequently needs adjustment.
Longer-term, he hopes to expand the "smart pill" concept to other types of medicine and use the wealth of biometric information the Proteus chip can collect, from heart rate and temperature to body movement, to check that drugs are working properly.
Because the tiny chips are added to existing drugs, Novartis does not expect to have to conduct full-scale clinical trials to prove the new products work. Instead, it aims to do so-called bioequivalence tests to show they are the same as the original.
A bigger issue may be what checks should be put in place to protect patients' personal medical data as it is transmitted from inside their bodies by wireless and Bluetooth.
"The regulators all like the concept and have been very encouraging. But ... they want to understand how we are going to solve the data privacy issues," Mundel said.
A technology that ensures a patient takes his or her medicine and checks that it is working properly should deliver better outcomes and justify a higher price tag.
- So The Hospital Called And Asked Why I Ate Shrimp And Lobster Sauce Which Had So Much Sodium …
After all, they said, their business process logic alarms had gone off since I had eaten at El Frijoles earlier in the week, which meant I had eaten high sodium re-fried beans on the side EVEN THOUGH it was good I had declined the fried chimichanga for...
- “white House Has Said Nothing About The Number Of People Who Have Paid Their Checks To The Companies”
From Bob Laszewski There’s bad news hidden behind the White House’s latest optimistic Obamacare report. Few people are actually paying for the healthcare plans that they’ve picked on the partially-fixed Obamacare website, say industry insiders.How...
- And The National Security Interest Here Is. . .?
Chicago Tribune: DEA using vast AT&T database: New York Times report (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement officials investigating drug crimes have had access, using subpoenas, to a large AT&T Inc database that contains the records of phone calls...
- I Knew There Was A Rational Explanation For Obama Getting Elected!
Americans consume EIGHTY percent of the world’s pain pills as prescription drug abuse epidemic explodes Americans consume 80 percent of the world’s supply of painkillers — more than 110 tons of pure, addictive opiates every year — as the country’s...
- Green Data System Service
In November 2010, GEI began developing a system that could be used for keeping field data records utilizing 'smart phone' technology. After months of testing, GEI landed its first 'Green Data Systems' (GDS) contract with a major...
Green Energy
What Could Go Wrong?
If I want chips in my body I'll open a bag of Fritos thank you very much. . .
Reuters:
Look out, your medicine is watching you
By Ben Hirschler
NEW YORK Mon Nov 8, 2010 5:29pm EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Novartis AG plans to seek regulatory approval within 18 months for a pioneering tablet containing an embedded microchip, bringing the concept of "smart-pill" technology a step closer.
The initial program will use one of the Swiss firm's established drugs taken by transplant patients to avoid organ rejection. But Trevor Mundel, global head of development, believes the concept can be applied to many other pills.
"We are taking forward this transplant drug with a chip and we hope within the next 18 months to have something that we will be able to submit to the regulators, at least in Europe," Mundel told the Reuters Health Summit in New York.
"I see the promise as going much beyond that," he added.
Novartis agreed in January to spend $24 million to secure access to chip-in-a-pill technology developed by privately owned Proteus Biomedical of Redwood City, California, putting it ahead of rivals.
The biotech start-up's ingestible chips are activated by stomach acid and send information to a small patch worn on the patient's skin, which can transmit data to a smartphone or send it over the Internet to a doctor.
Mundel said the initial project was focused on ensuring that patients took drugs at the right time and got the dose they needed -- a key issue for people after kidney and other transplant operations, when treatment frequently needs adjustment.
Longer-term, he hopes to expand the "smart pill" concept to other types of medicine and use the wealth of biometric information the Proteus chip can collect, from heart rate and temperature to body movement, to check that drugs are working properly.
Because the tiny chips are added to existing drugs, Novartis does not expect to have to conduct full-scale clinical trials to prove the new products work. Instead, it aims to do so-called bioequivalence tests to show they are the same as the original.
A bigger issue may be what checks should be put in place to protect patients' personal medical data as it is transmitted from inside their bodies by wireless and Bluetooth.
"The regulators all like the concept and have been very encouraging. But ... they want to understand how we are going to solve the data privacy issues," Mundel said.
A technology that ensures a patient takes his or her medicine and checks that it is working properly should deliver better outcomes and justify a higher price tag.
- So The Hospital Called And Asked Why I Ate Shrimp And Lobster Sauce Which Had So Much Sodium …
After all, they said, their business process logic alarms had gone off since I had eaten at El Frijoles earlier in the week, which meant I had eaten high sodium re-fried beans on the side EVEN THOUGH it was good I had declined the fried chimichanga for...
- “white House Has Said Nothing About The Number Of People Who Have Paid Their Checks To The Companies”
From Bob Laszewski There’s bad news hidden behind the White House’s latest optimistic Obamacare report. Few people are actually paying for the healthcare plans that they’ve picked on the partially-fixed Obamacare website, say industry insiders.How...
- And The National Security Interest Here Is. . .?
Chicago Tribune: DEA using vast AT&T database: New York Times report (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement officials investigating drug crimes have had access, using subpoenas, to a large AT&T Inc database that contains the records of phone calls...
- I Knew There Was A Rational Explanation For Obama Getting Elected!
Americans consume EIGHTY percent of the world’s pain pills as prescription drug abuse epidemic explodes Americans consume 80 percent of the world’s supply of painkillers — more than 110 tons of pure, addictive opiates every year — as the country’s...
- Green Data System Service
In November 2010, GEI began developing a system that could be used for keeping field data records utilizing 'smart phone' technology. After months of testing, GEI landed its first 'Green Data Systems' (GDS) contract with a major...