Back in April, I wrote the piece 5 Apps Leveraging Apple’s ResearchKit For Clinical Studies. What’s interesting, in retrospect, is that none of those apps were developed by pharmaceutical companies, but rather by academic medical centers and nonprofit organizations.
But things are likely to change soon. According to a BuzzFeed article, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Purdue Pharma are exploring the possibility of leveraging the ResearchKit platform in clinical trials. While neither company has disclosed definitive plans, GSK’s Michelle Crouthamel acknowledged that the company believes there’s the possibility “to improve patient engagement and data collection” by using the tool.
I’m a bit surprised that the pharma and medical device industries haven’t jumped at the opportunity to take advantage of ResearchKit, but maybe I shouldn’t be since life sciences companies are generally slow to adopt newer technology. They’ve historically been reluctant, due to the strict regulatory environment that surrounds them, but I’m hopeful that GSK and Purdue will be brave enough to demonstrate how embracing these kinds of technologies can increase operational success in today’s digital age.
