Qualcomm Connecting Medical Devices to Cloud for Novartis, Walgreens

Qualcomm Incorporated subsidiary Qualcomm Life Inc. is partnering with Novartis and Walgreens to improve clinical trial data collection and remote patient monitoring.

Qualcomm announced the collaborations during this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev. The company is aligning itself with Novartis’ Trials of The Future program, allowing the pharmaceutical giant to leverage its Life 2net platform to collect and aggregate medical device data during clinical trials to improve the convenience and speed of capturing study participant data and test results.

Novartis’ Trials of The Future program is designed to leverage healthcare technology to improve the experience of clinical trial participants and patients using Novartis products, and provide connectivity with future products marketed by Novartis. The company will combine the 2net Platform, 2net Hub and 2net Mobile technologies with designated medical devices to automate the collection of vital patient data at patient’s homes during clinical trials. 

“Standardizing on the tech-agnostic 2net Platform and accessing the ecosystem of integrated medical devices will provide a great range of flexibility and scalability, ultimately accelerating efforts to design more efficient, cost-effective clinical trials,” said Rick Valencia, senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm Life.

Novartis is using the 2net Platform in a recently-launched clinical study, evaluating the use of mobile devices with chronic lung disease patients. The study, which is observational in nature and does not involve any Novartis pharmaceutical product, leverages 2net Mobile-enabled smartphones and 2net Hubs to seamlessly collect and aggregate biometric data from medical devices and transmits this data to the cloud-based 2net Platform, which securely sends the data to the study coordinator. 

Soon, “Qualcomm-enabled” devices utilizing the Life 2net platform will be available at Walgreens, allowing remote patient monitoring through the sharing of biometric and health status information, according to a news release. And Walgreens Balance Rewards members can link the connected devices to their account to earn points and share their biometric data with pharmacists. Some of the devices will include wrist-worn and conventional blood pressure cuffs and blood glucose meters.

“Whether transitioning from a hospital to the home or managing a chronic condition such as heart disease or diabetes, Walgreens connectivity solution powered by Qualcomm Life will allow us to help our customers achieve improved health through regular biometric communication with their providers,” said Adam Pellegrini, Walgreens divisional vice president of digital health. “Additionally, Qualcomm Life’s platforms help us to reward participating customers for their choice to become more informed and engaged in their health care.”

In a recent survey of 2,000 people, blood pressure was the most popular vital sign participants wanted to monitor (37 percent), followed by weight (33 percent), chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes (25 percent), sleep (23 percent), exercise (22 percent), diet (19 percent), and vision (18 percent).

Qualcomm Incorporated is a global developer and provider of 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Qualcomm Incorporated includes Qualcomm’s licensing business, QTL, and the majority of its patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of Qualcomm’s engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of its products and services businesses, including its semiconductor business, QCT.