MedAngel announced today the official launch of their Bluetooth-enabled medication temperature-monitoring solution for patients at the International Conference on Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes in Paris. The company’s mission is to extend professional cold chain monitoring all the way to patients’ homes.
MedAngel ONE consists of a smart Bluetooth temperature sensor that is kept with medications. It continuously measures and records the temperature and connects to an app on a smartphone. Users select their medications from a supported database. Based on the particular safe range for each medication, the app will alert users whenever a critical temperature is approached or exceeded.
It is crucial to follow the manufacturers’ recommendations for temperature both when medications are stored and once they are opened, as the safe ranges differ in the two conditions. Though medications are distributed using professional-grade equipment and standards, the cold chain monitoring and safety checks stop at the moment of delivery to the patient. A recent study has revealed that 93% of patients do not store their medications according to the manufacturers’ recommendations. (Source)
The idea for MedAngel was born after CEO and co-founder Amin Zayani had an unsettling experience: “I was injecting loads of insulin one morning, but my blood glucose levels wouldn’t drop.” Only later he figured out that his insulin had frozen due to a refrigerator malfunction, rendering it completely ineffective. “I was so frustrated by the fact that I did not know if my insulin was properly stored or not” says Zayani, himself living with Type 1 diabetes for 10 years. Unable to find an existing solution to what he discovered was a widespread problem, Zayani determined to create his own.
MedAngel ONE is the result of two years of research, testing, design and engineering. It represents a completely different approach from existing professional temperature monitoring solutions because it puts the end-user in the center and takes advantage of existing consumer devices – smartphones! – rather than industrial, centralized and proprietary hardware.
This technology will allow users to have absolute certainty about the storage condition of their medications. The app will reassure users when the temperature is within the safe range, alert them when the temperature approaches a critical level and provide a timeline of temperature history.
“When you have the right information at the right time, it’s often only a small effort to protect your insulin from freezing or spoiling”, says Laura Krämer, the pharmacist on the team. “Like putting it into an inner pocket of your jacket on a very cold day, or moving it away from direct sunlight inside your car.”
“When you live with a chronic condition like diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis you are managing countless variables every day to stay functional and well. These variables include physical activity, stress, weather, food intake and medication dosage. Whether your medication is effective should not be one of these variables,” says Zayani.
MedAngel ONE is currently running on Android and supports the top one-hundred temperature-sensitive medications on the European and US markets, including the most widely prescribed insulins and biological drugs. The company plans to release the iOS app soon and will continuously increase the number of supported medications.
MedAngel ONE is available for US customers on Amazon and for all other countries on MedAngel’s website for a price of 49 US$ or 49 € per sensor. It is guaranteed for 2 years and uses a high performance replaceable battery that lasts up to 9 months.
MedAngel believes that empowering individuals with accurate, easy to use and affordable tools will take reduce stress and increase medication safety.
To learn more about the company and products or to arrange an interview, contact Amin Zayani at +49 176 9954 5096 or email, amin@medangel.co, or visit the website at https://www.medangel.co/
About the temperature sensitivity problem
Many people living with chronic conditions depend on temperature-sensitive medications to stay alive and well. Such conditions include diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel diseases. Some medications include insulin, TNF-inhibitors and different hormones. These drugs must remain within a certain temperature range otherwise they may partially or completely lose their effectiveness. There is no way for patients to determine whether their medications have been damaged.
Examples:
– Biologic antibody: AbbVie’s Humira storage range (2-8 ºC) and when opened (2-25 ºC)
– Insulin: Sanofi’s Lantus storage range (2-8 ºC) and when opened (8-30 ºC)
About MedAngel
Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, Med Angel BV develops, produces and commercializes innovative solutions help people to live with chronic conditions in an easier and safer way. The current focus is on increasing medication storage and transport safety. MedAngel ONE is the company’s first product, currently available for Android users and soon on iOS. The company currently employs seven people in Nijmegen, Berlin and San Francisco and works with a number of agents and distributors in Europe, USA, Australia and the Middle East. For more information, please visit medangel.co/about/
