Aptar launches digital disease management platform

Aptar Pharma has added another element to its suite of digital support tools for patients as they make their journey through the healthcare system.

The new disease management platform will allow for better patient treatment adherence tracking, according to the company, which says it will create an "end-to-end" digital health programme that will support patients "from the prevention and diagnosis phases, to disease management, and more, across multiple therapeutic areas."

It has grown out of Aptar's acquisitions of digital respiratory health specialist Cohero in 2020 and digital therapeutics (DTx) developer Voluntis in 2021, according to Gael Touya, who has been president of the pharma group throughout its push into the digital health category.

Aptar Pharma's main business is in drug delivery devices, and the desire to add in connectivity and foster two-way communication between patients and healthcare providers was the gatekeeper for its broader ambition in digital health – to develop a platform that hosts medical devices and digital health products alongside the services that complement and enhance them.

The acquisition of Voluntis, in particular, has been a key element in realising that ambition, as it brought in a DTx platform called Theraxium, driven by proprietary algorithms, that can be applied to the creation of new mobile and cloud-based applications for just about any chronic condition.

"By offering all-in-one solutions, including drug delivery connected devices, digital therapeutics, and care services, we aim to reduce existing gaps in healthcare by empowering patients, improving treatment adherence, and strengthening the patient and care team relationship," said Touya.

The new disease management platform can be used by care teams to tap into real-time remote data monitoring to track a person's adherence to therapy and gather patient-recorded outcome (PRO) data.

Meanwhile, patients themselves can access a range of features including remote diagnostics, virtual care and telehealth services, symptom and trigger tracking, as well as educational content and videos.

The platform is now being offered commercially to "life science industrial partners, payers, and providers," and is expected to be combined with long-term therapies for patients living with chronic conditions, said Aptar in a statement.