Israeli drug company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced its plans of acquisition for health software company Gecko Health Innovations Inc. based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.The American software company creates hardware and apps that remind patients to take their respiratory medicines.
The deal will give Teva its own medication-tracking capabilities, particularly the CareTRx, pronounced 'care-tracks.'
Founded in 2012, Gecko Health Innovations Inc. debuted its first healthcare-tracking software in 2013 with GeckoCap. CareTRx replaced GeckoCap in early 2015 and offered an advanced remote-monitoring system for patients with chronic respiratory disease.
The CareTRx system includes an inhaler sensor linked to a mobile app. The CareTRx hardware can be attached to most sensor-based inhalers. The software keeps track of the doses, sends to and stores data on the patient's mobile phone through an app which keeps track of the patient's medication schedule.
CareTRx will enable Teva to keep track of patients using inhalers. Related studies showed that patients need reminders to fill their prescriptions on time and when they do, they need more reminders to take the medicine as per their schedule. Findings showed some patients do not take their medicine even after getting their prescriptions filled. Gecko offered an ingenious solution with the CareTRx.
"The acquisition of Gecko Health Innovations further enhances Teva's ability to develop and deliver truly patient-centered solutions by utilizing eConnected, data-driven technology to improve the management of respiratory diseases," said Dr. Rob Koremans, President and CEO of Teva Global Specialty Medicines in a press release.
The acquisition will bring together Teva and Gecko scientists to come up with more innovation solutions on how to apply the CareTRx technology Teva's pipeline of products.
Gecko is committed to bringing chronic medication management to patients into one platform. Its founder and CEO Dr. Yechiel Engelhard expressed excitement in partnering with top pharmaceutical companies to bring Gecko's vision to life. Engelhard added Gecko is delighted that its vision aligns with Teva's innovative patient care solutions.
The acquisition will give Teva leverage to stay on top of its competitors such as Biogen who are also partnering with emerging healthcare software companies. Another competitor, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, partnered with Proteus Digital Health to develop advanced products and services aimed to offer better patient care using a medication-tracking system.
Neil Turner | Flickr
