Excellence in Innovation

Summary of work

Children with growth hormone deficiency follow a difficult, prolonged and complex administration treatment regimen. Key to optimal outcomes is the maintenance of high adherence. Over the past 10 years, Merck has launched a programme of eHealth technologies, each of which can stand alone but which together have created a unique eHealth ecosystem to improve treatment adherence, quality of life and growth response. How does it help patients? A fun smartphone game for kids teaches them about their disease and treatment. A device was also developed that improves patient convenience and comfort, with relatively simple injections. What’s in it for HCPs? This device automatically records the time and dose of each injection and sends the treating physicians real-time adherence data, giving them confidence that treatment is being taken as prescribed and allowing them to respond quickly if it’s not. What about the parents? A parent-focused smartphone app allows parents to monitor the device data from their phone, giving them peace of mind. Does it really work? There is evidence that this is having a real impact. ECOS, the first multinational observational study with long-term follow-up on the use of an eHealth platform, demonstrated high treatment adherence and relevant growth response.

Judges' comments

Merck’s project was truly innovative. The Easy Pod technology is a fantastic example of triage between patient, carer and healthcare professional, particularly engaging the children/teenagers in an impressive way. They have remarkable adherence rates generated from both the device and study.