National Cancer Institute Funds Telemonitoring for Medication Compliance

    CHICAGO, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Increased use of oral cancer drugs has
 raised concerns about patient compliance. A review in the Journal of the
 National Cancer Institute (NCI) found that up to 80% of cancer patients
 failed to follow their prescriptions. The risk to patients is substantial.
 Patients who take too much chemotherapy risk a toxic reaction or long-term
 damage. Patients who take too little lose the drug's therapeutic benefits.
 
     NCI has awarded Leap of Faith Technologies an $883,593 contract to
 further develop its drug telemonitoring technology, called eMedonline(R)
 (http://www.emedonline.com), for use in oncology and clinical trials.
 
     eMedonline integrates cellphones, radio frequency identification
 (RFID), and health and behavioral informatics to optimize compliance, track
 medication use, and extend patient care to the ambulatory setting.
 
     "eMedonline is designed to facilitate compliance data collection and
 help manage adverse events," explains Barbara Rapchak, CEO of Leap of
 Faith. "The system goes beyond reminding patients to take their
 medications. It also helps them monitor their symptoms, side effects, and
 overall well-being using an off-the-shelf cellphone that integrates
 seamlessly into their lifestyle."
 
     eMedonline can be thought of as a "smart service" that leverages the
 inherent abilities of wireless technologies like cellphones and RFID.
 Medication data read from an RFID tag on the medication package is
 collected wirelessly in real time and helps verify that patients are taking
 the right drug at the right time, while tracking adverse events. A web
 service makes the data readily available to clinicians. Alerts can be
 triggered, enabling intervention in the case of missed medications or
 adverse events before they become a significant health risk.
 
     According to the New England Journal of Medicine, clinical trials
 report average adherence rates of only 43%-78%. It costs an average of
 $6533 to recruit a patient for a trial, and three times that amount to
 recruit a new patient if one is lost due to noncompliance.
 
     eMedonline cost-effectively and accurately tracks drug distribution,
 dosing times, and missed doses, eliminating costly uncertainty about
 efficacy and the need for manual data entry. This can reduce the cost and
 time to bring a drug to market.
 
     With increased FDA scrutiny of new drugs, the technology is especially
 relevant to Phase IV studies where it can automate data collection across
 large, widely distributed populations for extended periods of time.
 
 
 

SOURCE Leap of Faith Technologies