Apps & Software News

Sanofi Partnership Aims to Give MS Patients an mHealth Platform

The French pharmaceutical giant is partnering with a digital therapeutics company to develop an mHealth platform that would help those living with MS who are also dealing with mental health issues.

Source: ThinkStock

By Eric Wicklund

- Sanofi is partnering with a digital therapeutics company to develop an mHealth platform that would help people living with multiple sclerosis who are also having mental health problems.

The French pharmaceutical giant and New York-based Happify Health are working on an mHealth app that would use digital cognitive behavioral therapy to MS patients who are dealing with depression or anxiety.

MS affects some 1 million Americans and 2.3 million worldwide, and those affected are three times more likely to be dealing with a major depressive disorder and 20 percent more likely to be struggling with anxiety. mHealth advocates believe that a digital therapeutic platform can help these patients by delivering an on-demand resource when and where it’s most needed.

“We know that, for certain chronic conditions, mental health is perhaps the most significant underlying comorbidity,” Ameet Nathwani, Sanofi’s chief medical officer and chief digital officer, said in a press release. “Happify Health’s ability to address mental health issues so effectively in a digital environment provides an ideal complement to Sanofi’s traditional therapies, allowing us to continue delivering on our commitment to bring innovative treatments and programs to people living with MS.”

“The ubiquity of smartphones and PCs has the potential to introduce new self-care and augmented-care delivery models that are dynamic, highly personalized and engaging,” Ofer Leidner, Happify Health’s co-founder and president, added in a separate release. “Further, our evidence-based digital platform is designed to maximize efficacy, safety and patient engagement at scale, three areas which are difficult to attain with one solution.”

The project is one of many that aim to use connected health to identify stress and depression in people living with chronic diseases, and to integrate mental health treatment with care management. Many are using digital therapeutic platforms, which aim to replace traditional medication-based treatment with other tools.

Once tested and perfected, Sanofi and Happify Health plan to submit the platform to the US Food and Drug Administration for clearance as a medical device.

“Until now, physicians treating MS, have not had evidence-based, digital tools to treat comorbidities in tandem with the primary condition,” Bozidar Jovicevic, Sanofi’s global head of digital medicine, said in the press release. “In collaboration with Happify Health, we now have the opportunity to develop an MS-specific digital therapeutic based on platform that is not only poised to affect outcomes, but is also proven to be engaging, a critical factor for improving overall patient health.”

MS has long been at the center of mHealth and telehealth research and innovation.

Two years ago, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) invested more than $14 million in three projects aimed at applying mHealth and telehealth to care management for people living with MS. Those projects are now underway at the University of Michigan, Case Western Reserve University and the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.

Also in 2017, Novartis announced a new study on Apple’s ResearchKit platform designed to connect with MS patients across the country through an mHealth app on their iPhones.

The elevateMS (Evaluation of Evidence from Smart Phone Sensors and Patient-Reported Outcomes in Participants with Multiple Sclerosis) study, using mHealth technology developed by Sage Bionetworks, “aims to improve understanding of the daily challenges patients with MS can have and to uncover new potential measurements of treatment effectiveness through real-time data collection from participants in their everyday life.”

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
©2012-2024 TechTarget, Inc. Xtelligent Healthcare Media is a division of TechTarget. All rights reserved. HealthITAnalytics.com is published by Xtelligent Healthcare Media a division of TechTarget.