Qualcomm Announces Connected Health Partnerships With Novartis, Walgreens
By Jof Enriquez,
Follow me on Twitter @jofenriq
Qualcomm Life Inc. recently announced separate collaborations with drug retail chain Walgreens and pharmaceutical firm Novartis that will allow consumers and care providers to seamlessly share health data using cloud-connected medical devices. The deals seek to help customers manage their conditions at home to prevent frequent hospital re-admissions and to improve the quality of clinical trials.
According to a press release, Qualcomm Life’s 2net Platform will allow Walgreens’ web apps to connect with various medical devices, enabling the remote monitoring of patients with chronic conditions. The platform allows members of Walgreens Balance Rewards for healthy choices program to sync devices such as blood pressure cuffs and glucometers directly to their Balance Rewards account in order to earn points. Moreover, this allows pharmacists to electronically access biometrics and health status information.
The apps and devices that will use the 2net Platform will be available to consumers in the first half of 2015, according to the statement.
“Whether transitioning from a hospital to the home or managing a chronic condition such as heart disease or diabetes, Walgreens connectivity solution powered by Qualcomm Life will allow us to help our customers achieve improved health through regular biometric communication with their providers,” said Adam Pellegrini, Walgreens divisional VP of digital health, in the statement. “Additionally, Qualcomm Life’s platforms help us to reward participating customers for their choice to become more informed and engaged in their health care.”
In a separate statement, Qualcomm also announced a partnership with Novartis in which the drug manufacturer will use the 2net Platform to power its Trials of The Future program. The platform will enable the automated collection and aggregation of medical device and patient data during clinical trials at patients’ homes. The technology will be used to improve the convenience and speed of capturing study participant data and test results.
“Novartis is a pioneer in putting technology to use in advancing pharmaceutical innovation,” said Rick Valencia, senior VP and general manager, Qualcomm Life, in the statement. “Standardizing on the tech-agnostic 2net Platform and accessing the robust ecosystem of integrated medical devices will provide them a great range of flexibility and scalability, ultimately accelerating their efforts to design more efficient, cost-effective clinical trials.”
Novartis is already using Qualcomm’s 2net Platform in an observational clinical trial involving chronic lung disease patients, according to the statement. The study utilizes 2net Mobile-enabled smartphones and 2net Hubs to collect and aggregate biometric data from medical devices and transmits this data to the cloud-based 2net Platform. The platform then forwards the data to the study coordinator.
Qualcomm has been busy bringing in new partners from the healthcare field into its open ecosystem of medical devices. The mobile solutions giant recently inked a deal with telehealth provider Vitaphone e-Health Solutions to enable the capture of biometric data from medical devices. The agreement seeks to integrate Vitaphone’s chronic disease management solutions with Qualcomm Life’s HealthyCircles Care Coordination and 2net Device Connectivity Platforms, according to a Med Device Online article.