Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Embrace Co. Ltd., announced that both companies have commenced a trial service at certain key hospitals of an application programme (app) to support adherence to medication in conjunction with a multi-disciplinary SNS (social networking service) that ensures smooth communication between patients and healthcare providers (HCPs) for the purpose of supporting the adherence to medication of patients.

This app to support adherence to medication is a service developed by Chugai to promote multidisciplinary team care in cancer treatment. Meanwhile, Embrace operates “MedicalCareStation”, a completely private SNS that was developed exclusively for HCPs and nursing providers for the establishment of an integrated community care system. “MedicalCareStation” is currently used by 24,000 healthcare and related facilities nationwide, and has been formally adopted by over 180 medical associations in Japan.

By linking this app to “MedicalCareStation”, we expect to promote active communication among HCPs centered around patients and smooth communication between patients and HCPs. In addition, as the daily status of a patient’s medication adherence and symptoms of concern are shared with HCPs in a timely manner, it will particularly contribute to enhancing the medication adherence of patients who receive outpatient cancer treatment in order to manage their side effects.

This trial has been conducted on a limited number of users based on the approval of the Institutional Review Board at the targeted key hospitals. As this app is operated on the multidisciplinary SNS platform, it is simple to spread users in facilities that have adopted “MedicalCareStation” after vilification, and this is one of its features.

In outpatient cancer treatment, there are cases where an adverse event becomes serious before the next visit, and leads to discontinuing medication. As early detection of side effects and measures to combat them are important in order to avoid this situation, we have developed a system that enables patients to record their subjective symptoms and promptly communicate with HCPs.

Chugai and Embrace aim to further promote adherence to medication and side effect management through the development of patient-centered communications.

Chugai Pharmaceutical is one of Japan’s leading research-based pharmaceutical companies with strengths in biotechnology products. Chugai, based in Tokyo, specializes in prescription pharmaceuticals and is listed on the 1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As an important member of the Roche Group, Chugai is actively involved in R&D activities in Japan and abroad. Specifically, Chugai is working to develop innovative products which may satisfy the unmet medical needs, mainly focusing on the oncology area.