Takeda is testing the use of an Apple Watch app for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Working with UK firm Cambridge Cognition the company is piloting the app to monitor and assess cognitive function in patients with MDD, which affects around 350 million around the world.

Nicole Mowad-Nassar, vice president of external partnerships at Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA, said: “This collaboration is part of our strategy to embrace new technology to better understand the patient experience and assist healthcare professionals in creating improved patient care pathways.”

The small 30-patient trials of adults who have been prescribed an antidepressant will evaluate the app's feasibility and compliance, and aims to understand how a wearable's measures of mood and cognition compare to traditional neuropsychological testing and patient reported assessments.

Cognition Kit's chief scientific officer Jenny Barnett said: “By combining wearable technology with world leading neuroscience, we've created an app that collects real time passive and active high-frequency mental health data.

“Being able to access data regularly from daily life can help clinical decision making. Healthcare professionals can obtain patient data and increase patient engagement in their treatment.”

To date few Apple Watch apps have been launched by pharma, with Novartis' ViaOpta app for the visually impaired being one of those that have been developed. 

The first results from the study of Takeda's Apple Watch app are due to be reported before July 2017.

Digital inspiration for pharma on mobile, social media, strategy, best practice, regulations and more