GlaxoSmithKline is using Apple’s ResearchKit to monitor rheumatoid arthritis sufferers
GlaxoSmithKline is the first pharmaceutical company to make use of Apple’s ResearchKit.
Research Kits
The system launched two years ago, allowing iOS developers to create surveys tracking the health of participants.
Glaxo is using it to record how mobile 300 respondents are over a period of three months with the option to record additional data such as a pain rating and their mood.
Integrated with the iPhone, the device measures mobility, using a wrist exercise as the basis for the data.
Rob DiCicco, head of Glaxo’s clinical innovation and digital platforms group, told Bloomberg that the ResearchKit offers a faster and less expensive way to recruit clinical patients, adding “certainly you’ve also taken out the site costs, and the costs of having nurses and physicians explaining the studies to them and recording information.”
The success of the project could help catalyse Apple’s efforts in the wearable market as a serious player in the healthcare tech industry.
The app will track the progress of rheumatoid arthritis sufferers but has numerous applications across other illnesses.