Swedish start-up Pilloxa has initiated a strategic partnership with Bayer AB for an innovative smart pillbox to tackle the ever-growing problem of patient compliance.
Pilloxa is a patient-centric adherence platform that helps patients take their medicine in time by using an app connected to a smart pillbox. The smart pillbox with embedded sensors, which is connected to a mobile app, has been used by patients since 2017.
The user gets a notification as a reminder if they are about to forget their dose, but the app also features an up-to-date medicines list, a dashboard visualising the patient’s medication history and a motivational tool.
The new collaboration between Pilloxa and Bayer will enable the start-up to gain access to both Bayer’s Scandinavian and global networks, with goals to expand the market and introduce more people to the smart pillbox.
“We see great potential in this innovation. For someone not too familiar with the subject it might seem like a trivial task to take one’s medicine. The reality shows that poor adherence to medication is one of the biggest medicine-related issues that affects healthcare; many, especially chronically ill patients, could get better treatment. We also see that the product can improve the quality of outcomes when following up with the patients”, says Ingalill Hyltander, commercial operations director, Bayer Scandinavia.
Non-compliance, with patients either forgetting or failing to complete complete courses of medication leads to thousands of deaths and billions of euros in costs for society every year. Poor adherence to medication leads to both medical risks for the patients as well as increased strain on the healthcare system, both in terms of time and costs.
