Abiogenix Makes A New Year's Resolution To Save Billions Of Dollars For U.S. Healthcare

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Most people don't take their medicine when they are supposed to; this makes medication non-adherence one of the largest problems facing healthcare today.  According to Express Script's latest drug trend report, it precipitated over $300 billion in unnecessary spending in 2011.

To improve adherence, Abiogenix has created the uBox, a smart pillbox that encourages people to follow their medication regimen as prescribed.  Unlike other devices on the market, the uBox is portable, secure, and simple to set up and use.  Users opt to include others in their care, sending texts or emails in the event a dose is missed. 

Not only does the uBox empower patients in self-care, it also yields the objective data that healthcare providers have long been missing:

Are my patients taking their medication on time, every time?  If not, why not?

Clinicians want to help their patients, but they cannot do so effectively if they don't know that the patient has decided not to take the medicine as prescribed.  The security features of the uBox also mitigate prescription abuse and diversion, two growing sources of concern for providers.

Dr. Daniel Karlin, Executive Chief Resident at Tufts Medical Center says, "By promoting adherence and enhancing safety, Abiogenix and the uBox will allow substantial improvements in care for conditions across the spectrum of psychiatric disorders; now we can have a better sense of what patients do with the medications we prescribe and appropriately adjust our decisions with reassurance that the uBox impedes immediate access to large quantities of medication."

The creators of the uBox, Goutam Reddy and Sara Cinnamon, met at MIT nine years ago.  "We started working on this product in 2007 as a means to revolutionize tuberculosis treatment in the developing world, but we realized there is also a great need in the U.S.," says Sara. "Our goal is to make the act of taking medicine -- usually an odious process -- as effortless as possible, integrating into the patient's life seamlessly.  There are many reasons we don't take our medicines like we're supposed to, and the uBox aims to help in every way it can." 

They are launching the uBox in early 2013, with development funds sourced via the crowdfunding site Indiegogo.  If you are interested in supporting them, please visit http://indiegogo.com/my-uBox.

Additional information about Abiogenix can be found at http://abiogenix.com.

SOURCE Abiogenix, Inc.