Newly developed tablet can report when ingested and digested

Food and Drug Administration allows the use of Abilify MyCite

Is there a way for doctors to determine if patients have taken all the prescribed medications? In the US, a tablet has now been approved to report digestion in the stomach and then forward the data to a cloud.

Experts from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have now approved the first tablet plus accessories. This tablet contains a tiny sensor which then emits an electrical pulse upon contact with the stomach acid. A special patch on the affected patient registers this signal and automatically forwards the information to an app. From there, the data goes to the cloud. The FDA released a press release on the approval of the tablet.

Researchers have now developed tablets that can report contact with stomach acid. Information is then forwarded via an app to the cloud. For example, the tablets can help people with mental illness to remember their tablets. (Image: Gina Sanders / fotolia.com)

Tablet plus accessories have already been approved by the FDA

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now for the first time approved a tablet plus accessories, with a sensor system reporting when the tablet comes into contact with stomach acid. For example, data subjects can document and track when they took their tablets. It is also possible for physicians and nurses to access the data - of course only with the consent of the patients concerned.

Abilify MyCite is used in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

The medicine called Abilify MyCite is used in various diseases. It can be used to treat, for example, schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. In addition, the tablet may also be concomitantly prescribed for major depression.

Which company makes the tablet?

The manufacturer of the new tablet is a Japanese company called Otsuka Pharmaceutical. This company has been selling tablets containing the active ingredient aripiprazole for years. The sensor used is produced by the US company Proteus Digital Health.

Some people do not take their medication in manic phases

Especially with a mental illness, it can be quite important that an exact intake of the prescribed tablets is considered. For example, some people with bipolar disorder have the problem that they stop taking their medications when they are in a manic phase of the disease. "For some patients, it may be useful to keep an eye on the use of tablets to combat mental illness," explains Dr. Mitchell Mathis from the FDA.

Insurance coverage has not yet been resolved

So far it has not been clarified whether the use of the new technology also contributes to the fact that patients take their medication more regularly, explain the manufacturers of the tablet and the US Food and Drug Administration. It also remains unclear whether insurance companies will pay the cost of the newly developed drug. The reimbursement could possibly be denied until there is clear evidence of increased adherence to the tablet's monitoring, the experts explain.

In the future also treatment of diabetes or hypertension with Abilify MyCite?

The manufacturer Proteus Digital Health apparently already plans to make the tablet available to a much larger target group. Researchers believe that the system for monitoring tablet intake could have a massive impact on the treatment of patients with diabetes or high blood pressure. This could be of utmost importance in the increasing number of hypertensive patients. (As)