FitBits aid in Big Pharma Data Collection

Original image can be found in the ‘Big Pharma Hands Out Fitbits to Collect Better Personal Data‘ article

Big pharmaceutical companies are now teaming up with FitBits and other gadgets as a way to bring drugs to market more quickly. Trial patients are now being outfitted with wearables and companies are using the data from these devices to collect around-the-clock information in hopes of streamlining trials and better understand if a drug is working. In the future, wearables could help reduce healthcare costs, by proving to insurance companies that pharmaceutical makers’ treatments are effective.

GlaxoSmithKline plc will be following the movements of 25 patients with Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS. The trial participants will be asked to wear a small, rectangular, lightweight monitor that adheres to their chest. The device will be used to measure heart rates, walking steps and elevation gain.

A biotech company in Massachusetts has recently developed the “biostamp???, an adhesive with flexible circuits and sensors, that is almost like a “lightweight, intelligent Band-Aid???, says co-founder Ben Schlatka. Wearable manufacturers have made pedometers, sensors and activity trackers easy to wear; and they are lightweight, have long battery life and are slick looking.

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