Innovative asthma treatment kicks off digital transformation

Many companies see wearable health technologies as the way of the future. But the data these tools capture can lack context that could inform better treatment strategies. Since existing health devices cannot sufficiently synthesize and convey data to asthmatics and inform long-term symptom management, our client, a large pharma company, identified this gap as a focal point of its technological, pharmaceutical, and business innovation.

As asthmatics are especially undeserved by current device offerings that fail to capture the disease’s complexity, our client set out to build a digital-first strategy that aligns with the speed of modern business demands. 

Without a legacy in software engineering, our client needed guidance before building its new digital infrastructure. Stakeholders sought a flexible technology partner that could meet with international teams and support it as it pursues a proof of concept.

Experienced in building innovative digital solutions in complex regulatory environments, we responded quickly to the client’s business vision and technology strategy during several Rapid Ideation sessions. Subject matter experts in asthma, patient-reported outcomes, regulations, and data science had a seat at the table, as did our designers, developers, solutions architects, and strategic consultants. Together, we explored the resources needed to develop multifaceted software that redefines how asthmatics manage their health and the viability of the solution itself.

We built the product, which was the subject of the client’s clinical trials beginning in December 2017. The Android application integrates multiple wearable devices like Medtronic’s BioPatch and collects information from 28 data points in total. Other devices include a spirometer and an IoT-enhanced inhaler. Security is essential to the connections between the product and its various components — Bluetooth connects the devices to the application. An HTTPS connection sends encrypted data to the database, which is
itself encrypted.

A portal in which users log patient-reported outcomes adds additional layers of context that inform more holistic understandings of asthma symptoms and their causes.

As clinical trials continue, the application will gather large amounts of data relating to users’ symptoms and the environmental conditions present during severe asthma instances. Meanwhile, the client’s medical experts will work with data scientists to determine whether fewer, more, or different data points are required to understand and predict asthma attacks more accurately.

Our team will incorporate findings from clinical trials in the updates made to the product’s functionalities, preparing the product for success in a competitive market. As researchers receive a tool critical to their research, end-users can anticipate an intuitive and life-changing insight into their health. The product promises to demystify care strategies for a highly complex disease, equipping asthmatics to predict and subvert their disease’s capacity to undermine the quality of their life.