Prescription drug software specialist Closed Loop Medicine and pharmaceutical company Pharmanovia have entered a global co-development partnership.
The partnership will initially focus on the development and launch of a drug and software combination version of a first-line anti-hypertensive in the UK, before phased global roll-out and additional therapies are added.
Hypertension is the leading preventable cause of morbidity and premature death worldwide, impacting over 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women, and costing the NHS alone over £2.1 billion/year. Managing high-blood pressure through medication and lifestyle modifications significantly reduces associated health risks and improves quality of life; research in the US demonstrating improved standards of care could prevent 91,900 heart attacks, 139,000 strokes and 115,400 cardiovascular deaths within just 5 years.
However, poor drug tolerability and treatment-related side effects significantly impact adherence, with less than 50% of patients maintaining their treatment regimen after a year, ultimately hindering treatment effectiveness, patient outcomes and overall disease management.
It enables us to use innovative technology to enhance established medicines and bring much needed innovation to an area of large-scale unmet need
- Dr James Burt, CEO of Pharmanovia
As part of this partnership, Closed Loop Medicine’s proprietary Software-as-a-Medical Device (SaMD) dosing optimisation technology will be combined with Pharmanovia’s established anti-hypertensive medicines, under a single prescription. Recent preliminary clinical trial results have demonstrated that Closed Loop Medicine’s technology may provide the ability to dose optimise drug therapy, improve blood pressure control, and minimise side effects.
By developing a new class of combination products for the treatment of hypertension, both companies aim to support patients and healthcare professionals to better manage high blood pressure.
Dr Hakim Yadi OBE, CEO & Co-Founder of Closed Loop Medicine, commented: “This pioneering partnership is a great example of where the power of software integration can add value to iconic medicines to make them more effective for patients. Through this co-development agreement, we will bring our IP, insight and technical know-how of dose optimised drug plus software integration alongside Pharmanovia’s innovative business model, to enable well-known and trusted brands to be positioned as value-driven precision medicine product solutions globally.”
Dr James Burt, CEO of Pharmanovia, said: “Combining our experience in lifecycle management with Closed Loop Medicine’s unique approach and technology is an exciting next step in our strategy. It enables us to use innovative technology to enhance established medicines and bring much needed innovation to an area of large-scale unmet need. Together we aim to deliver a first in class combination of regulated software and medicine – with the aim of delivering better patient outcomes, while enabling healthcare systems to reduce costly hospital procedures through better adherence and patient engagement.”
