Beyond the Pills: Novartis Goes Digital to Reshape the Healthcare System

Novartis International AG’s (Novartis) investment in the start-up Proteus Digital Health (Proteus) in 2010 gave the pharmaceuticals giant access to a technology that allowed the embedding of sensors in medicinal pills that could be ingested. The sensors enabled the collection of drug-compliance data and its wireless transmission to a healthcare provider to facilitate a review of the patient’s health status. Once swallowed, the pill used stomach fluid as a power source to broadcast signals back to its battery-powered companion patch. The data received included important information such as the time the pill was ingested, body temperature, the patient’s heart rate, etc. That data was then sent to a smartphone app used by physicians to measure a patient’s existing condition. Thus, it was easy to make sure that a patient was taking his/her pills on time and to spot adverse reactions to other drugs. The major application of this technology was the improvement of drug adherence behaviour by the patients....