The digital neuroscience company Cambridge Cognition Holdings plc (LON:COG), which develops and markets software products to improve brain health, has today released positive results from a pilot study to evaluate cognition and mood using wearable technology in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) at the 2017 International CNS Summit in Boca Raton, FL.
The study was sponsored by Takeda Pharmaceuticals and used Cognition Kit™ technology, developed in a joint venture between Cambridge Cognition and Ctrl Group to measure mood and cognition in real world settings.
Collecting data in normal, day-to-day circumstances is a growing trend in the healthcare industry. Pharmaceutical companies now aim to demonstrate evidence of successful real world outcomes to differentiate their products in a competitive market while also satisfying the demands of payers and patients.
Real world evidence can help improve health outcomes for patients, reduce medical costs and demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of a treatment. However, conducting studies outside of a clinical setting and gaining compliance from patients when unsupervised has to date been challenging.
In the reported study, thirty participants aged 18-65 with a clinical diagnosis of mild to moderate depression who had been prescribed antidepressants took part over a 6-week period, being assessed daily at regular intervals on the Apple Watch®.
The researchers found that patients were highly compliant with the wearable Cognition Kit technology on a daily basis to evaluate their mood (95 percent compliant) and cognitive health (96 percent compliant).
The data collected with Cognition Kit shows how wearable technology can be used to collect real world evidence reliably even in challenging patient groups and how it may also aid communication between patients and clinicians, ensuring symptoms are detected early.
Dr. Francesca Cormack, Director of Research and Innovation, at Cambridge Cognition said: “We are delighted by the study results. These findings demonstrate that high frequency, near-patient testing using Cognition Kit software on wearable devices is accurate and well-tolerated by patients with excellent levels of compliance. This is of huge significance, demonstrating a feasible technology platform for enabling the pharmaceutical industry to collect real world evidence.”
Nicole Mowad-Nassar, Vice President, External Partnerships, at Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. said: “This initiative is an excellent example of the work being done at Takeda to build a body of evidence for new ways of measuring outcomes in mental health. Technology like Cognition Kit allows us to create real time objective measurements for assessing effects in depression that could transform patient care by increasing our ability to estimate clinical conditions and support earlier engagement between the patient and clinician. We are encouraged by the study results and look forward to learning more about the intersection of technology and healthcare.”
