Mobile Devices and the New Digital Frontier for Pharma

June 10, 2011

Matthew Stumm, Director of Agency320, the in-house creative consultancy and media solutions agency for BBK Worldwide, comments on the profound impact that consumer electronics and healthcare-related information sources are having on drug development in the June issue of European Pharmaceutical Contractor. Stumm notes how important timely patient recruitment is for unlocking drug franchise success and advises sponsors to adapt to the way patients and physicians utilize mobile devices and social media.

One example is the ever-increasing role of the Apple iPad^® and the industry-wide utility and savings potential for everything from clinical research trials to pharmaceutical sales. "Imagine a typical study binder that gets produced for an investigators' meeting for a global clinical trial," Stumm comments. "Sponsors spend tens of thousands (of dollars) creating these massive binders of the protocol and a spectrum of various charts, checklists, and diagnostic scales... and I can't tell you how many of them I've seen left behind in the meeting hall." In response, Stumm's firm has developed a number of Franchise e-Binder^SM applications that leverage iPad technology to help centralize the mountain of documentation, study-related materials, and information that accompany a typical clinical research protocol. Stumm notes that market familiarity with mobile technology, such as the iPad, has now reached a level of utility that is helping to streamline clinical R&D and is translating into major savings for sponsors.