Experimental “Internet of Things” System Uses
Connected Devices to Enable Remote Measurement of Health and
Quality of Life in Real-Time
Multi-Year Project Could Potentially Change How
Clinical Trials are Conducted
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced a
first-of-its-kind research collaboration to develop innovative
remote monitoring solutions aimed at transforming how clinicians
deliver care to patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease. The
experimental approach will rely on a system of sensors, mobile
devices, and machine learning to provide real-time,
around-the-clock disease symptom information to clinicians and
researchers. The ultimate goal is to obtain a better understanding
of a patient’s disease progression and medication response to help
inform treatment decisions and clinical trial design, while also
speeding the development of new therapeutic options.
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IBM Research Data Scientist Eric Clark
explores wearable technologies that could help monitor and analyze
biological data from study subjects at IBM's T. J. Watson Research
Center in Yorktown, NY. IBM and Pfizer are collaborating to create
a first-of-a-kind remote monitoring system to help track the
overall health of patients with Parkinson's disease. This
non-invasive, real-time approach to patient data could offer new
insights into disease progression and treatment plans. By applying
advanced analytics and machine learning to sensor data, the hope is
to transform how neurological diseases are diagnosed and treated.
(Photo Credit: Jon Simon/Feature Photo Service for IBM)
Parkinson’s disease in particular requires ongoing adjustment to
medication depending on the progression of the disease and response
of the patient. The collaboration seeks to create a holistic view
of a patient’s well-being by seeking to accurately measure a
variety of health indicators, including motor function, dyskinesia,
cognition, sleep and daily activities such as grooming, dressing
and eating. Insights from these data could help clinicians
understand the effect of a patient’s medication as the disease
progresses, enabling them to help optimize the patient’s treatment
regimen as needed. Data generated through the system could also arm
researchers with the insights and real-world evidence needed to
help accelerate potential new and better therapies.
According to the World Health Organization, neurological
disorders including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease,
stroke, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy impact almost one billion
families around the worldi and account for 12 percent of total
deaths globally.ii Many diseases of the brain, spine, and nerves
are progressive conditions that get worse over time and can create
uncontrolled movement, impair the ability to think, and cause other
debilitating symptoms impacting the patient’s quality of life.
Approximately 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s
disease each year according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation,
and an estimated seven to 10 million people suffer from the disease
globally.iii
“We have an opportunity to potentially redefine how we think
about patient outcomes and 24/7 monitoring, by combining Pfizer’s
scientific, medical and regulatory expertise with IBM’s ability to
integrate and interpret complex data in innovative ways,” said
Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., President of Pfizer Worldwide Research
and Development. “The key to our success will be to deliver a
reliable, scalable system of measurement and analysis that would
help inform our clinical programs across important areas of unmet
medical need, potentially accelerating the drug development and
regulatory approval processes and helping us to get better
therapies to patients, faster.”
“With the proliferation of digital health information, one area
that remains elusive is the collection of real-time physiological
data to support disease management,” said Arvind Krishna, Senior
Vice President and Director of IBM Research. “We are testing ways
to create a system that passively collects data with little to no
burden on the patient, and to provide doctors and researchers with
objective, real-time insights that we believe could fundamentally
change the way patients are monitored and treated.”
The two companies project that the system will move into initial
clinical testing quickly. Pfizer and IBM will convene an external
advisory board of patient groups, advocacy organizations,
clinicians, and neuroscientists for guidance on the use of
technology, medical devices, data management, and research
protocols, and to ensure the needs of patients guide the
program.
IBM IoT in Healthcare
This project marks a significant milestone in IBM’s work to
advance Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in healthcare. Emory
University Hospital is creating an instrumented ICU using IBM's
streaming analytics technology to advance predictive medicine for
critical patients in the ICU. The new system will enable clinicians
to acquire, analyze and correlate medical data at a volume and
velocity that was never before possible. Neonatal intensive care
specialists at The University of Ontario Institute of Technology
are relying on the same software to analyze more than 1,000 pieces
of unique information per second flowing from sensors and equipment
monitoring premature babies, helping caregivers spot the onset of
sepsis infections up to 24 hours earlier. And, Medtronic is working
with IBM Watson Health to create a cognitive app designed to
analyze real-time data from Medtronic devices to help detect
important patterns and trends for people with diabetes.
About IBM
Learn more about IBM Research at www.research.ibm.com.
Learn more about IBM Watson Health at
www.ibm.com/watsonhealth.
Follow us on Twitter at @IBMResearch and @IBMWatsonHealth
About Pfizer Inc.
At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring
therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their
lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value
in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care
products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as
well as many of the world's best-known consumer health care
products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and
emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and
cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time.
Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier
innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health
care providers, governments and local communities to support and
expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world.
For more than 150 years, Pfizer has worked to make a difference for
all who rely on us. For more information, please visit us
at www.pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, follow us on
Twitter at @Pfizer and @Pfizer_News and like us on
Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer.
Pfizer Disclosure Notice
The information contained in this release is as of April 7,
2016. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking
statements contained in this release as the result of new
information or future events or developments.
This release contains forward-looking information about a
research collaboration with IBM to develop innovative remote
monitoring solutions aimed at transforming how clinicians deliver
care to patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and its
potential benefits, that involves substantial risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and
uncertainties include, among other things, the uncertainties
inherent in research and development; risks related to the ability
to realize the anticipated benefits of the collaboration with IBM,
including the possibility that the expected benefits from such
collaboration will not be realized or will not be realized within
the expected time period; other business effects, including the
effects of industry, market, economic, political or regulatory
conditions; and competitive developments.
A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in
Pfizer’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2015, and in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q,
including in the sections thereof captioned “Risk Factors” and
“Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future
Results”, as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 8-K, all of
which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
and available at www.sec.gov and www.pfizer.com.
i BrainFacts.org. Global Prevalence of
Diseases and Disorders. 27 April 2012. Available at
http://www.brainfacts.org/policymakers/global-prevalence-of-diseases-and-disorders
Accessed on April 4, 2016
ii World Health Organization. Neurological
disorders: Public Health Challenges. 2006. Chapter 2, page
35. Available at
http://www.who.int/mental_health/neurology/chapter_2_neuro_disorders_public_h_challenges.pdf
Accessed on April 4, 2016.
iii Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. Statistics on Parkinson’s. Available at
www.pdf.org/en/parkinson_statistics Accessed on April 4, 2016
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Pfizer Media:Dean Mastrojohn,
212-733-6944Dean.Mastrojohn@pfizer.comorPfizer Investor:Ryan Crowe,
212-733-8160Ryan.Crowe@pfizer.comorIBM Media:Christine Douglass,
415-535-4479cgdouglass@us.ibm.com
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