Novartis and smartpatient have launched a new educational app experience for patients with age-related wet macular degeneration (AMD).

The ‘See What’s Next’ section of the MyTherapy app, co-created by Novartis and smartpatient, provides wet AMD patients and their caregivers with resources, as well as educational tools.

The app section is designed to encourage people living with this condition to improve their treatment adherence, which is crucial to reducing the risk of vision loss.

It also supports patients and caregivers in arranging appointments, digitally connecting them through the app experience.

“Non-adherence is a challenge in most health conditions, but in few are consequences as direct and severe as in wet AMD,” says Sebastian Gaede, chief executive officer of smartpatient.

“I was truly impressed seeing Novartis and us working as one team, with every single team member highly motivated by our shared goal of supporting patients in avoiding complications and reducing the risk of vision loss,” he added.

Wet AMD is the leading cause of severe vision loss and legal blindness in people over the age of 65 in the US, Europe, Australia and Asia.

Early symptoms include distorted vision and as the disease progresses, cell damage increases, resulting in further reduction in vision quality.

On top of using the ‘See What’s Next’ section, users can use the MyTherapy app for managing other health conditions and medications.

The ‘See What’s Next’ section of the MyTherapy app first launches in Italy and Spain, with patients and caregivers receiving access to the app via their treating ophthalmologist.

In the future, Novartis and smartpatient also plan to roll the wet AMD section out to further markets.

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