An app that may potentially prescribe the optimal dose of medicine for the individual patient

BLOCKCHAIN

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have developed a prototype of an app that may potentially prescribe the optimal dose of medicine for the individual patient, as well as prevent counterfeit products.

Using a prototype app for smartphones, researchers from the University of Copenhagen have taken the next step in the dosing, production and distribution of the pharmaceutical products of the future. And the time for innovation is more than ripe, says Professor Jukka Rantanen of the Department of Pharmacy:

‘200 years ago, the first patent on making tablets was filed and the products have not changed much since. We are still having the same tablets. What we are doing now is suggesting a totally new type of product’, he says.

‘By rethinking the product design principles, related manufacturing solutions and distribution models for the pharmaceutical products, it is possible to dramatically reduce the overall price of medicine while also improving the safety and efficacy of the medication’.

App-othecary

The core of Jukka Rantanen and his research group’s wager for a future solution for pharmaceutical products is the new concept of cryptopharmaceuticals, embodying the mentioned prototype of an app for smartphones.

The app is called ‘MedBlockChain’ and has been developed by the group’s former MSc-student Lasse Nørfeldt. It is, among other things, based on the research group’s earlier work on digitalisation of pharmaceutical products, for example in the form of printing medications as edible QR codes.

With the app, patients will be able to scan a medication and receive confirmation that it is a genuine product and not a fake item. A problem that, according to Jukka Rantanen, is particularly serious in countries with less structured medicines regulatory agencies.

At the same time, patients can choose to provide access to a range of personal data – everything from heart rate monitor watches, pedometers and internet-connected bath scales to genetic profiles, screen time and social media usage – all contributing with knowledge that can enable computer systems based on artificial intelligence to gradually pin down the optimal dose for each patient.

‘This type of data already exist in our information-rich society. It would be logical to employ this big data for something useful. Not just for sharing on Facebook, your exercise app or something like that, but also for defining your optimal dose of given medicine’, says Jukka Rantanen.

Builds on Blockchain

With the growing mass of personal data, data security is also gaining importance, Jukka Rantanen points out.

To guarantee data security, the app uses the so-called blockchain technology, which is probably best known in connection with the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.