Merck has struck a deal for a brain training eHealth system for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) it will combine with its existing adherence service.

The German pharma company will include the HAPPYneuron programme within its MSdialog web-based software, giving the combined system a phased rollout, beginning first with Brazil, Argentina, Israel, Italy, France and the Netherlands.

Rehan Verjee, chief marketing and strategy officer of Merck's biopharma business, said: “We have a long-standing commitment to delivering therapeutic and support solutions to people living with MS. 

“The platform will enhance the attractiveness of MSdialog to patients and HCPs by seeking to address these cognitive deficit symptoms and further fostering the monitoring of the cognitive state of patients.”

HAPPYneuron's 'cognitive remediation' programme aims to improve patients' cognitive skills through brain training with repeated cognitive game training exercises.

The games are designed to address the cognition challenges people with MS face, with the games' difficulty automatically adjusting to match the need of the patient.

Merck signed an exclusive licence for the system - for an undisclosed amount - from France's HAPPYneuron, which is part of the SBT Group.

HAPPYneuron president Franck Tarpin-Bernard said: “This agreement is a strong acknowledgement of the hard work we have achieved these past years to build training programs adapted to the uniqueness of each medical condition. It reinforces our willingness to become a world leader of digital cognitive remediation.”

HAPPYneuron will be added to Merck's MSdialog, a cloud-based software system that records patient outcome data and provides patients prescribed the firm's Rebif (interferon beta-1a) treatment with reminders to take it.

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