Below is a really interesting technological packaging advancement that is truly exciting and could have major benefits in the healthcare and pharma packaging & clinical trials sectors. Design Cognition also believe that this technology has further application in other dosage forms and sectors and is working with DSM TCG & GP Solutions (UK) Ltd to develop the OtCM™ and Dose Guard™ technologies in innovative ways to meet the demands of end-users and industry and bring this product to market in a viable & cost-effective manner.

Please contact me (chris@designcognition.com) if you’d like more information or come and visit us at Packaging Innovations at the NEC, Birmingham UK on 24th or 25th Feb (stand 582), where we can discuss in more detail. You can register HERE.  Chris Penfold

When was the last time you forgot to take your medication? Odds are that it was within the last week. This makes you part of the millions of patients who don’t take their medications as prescribed by their physician. Medication non-adherence, or mal-compliance, as it is commonly called, is a problem that disrupts the healthcare system in many ways. If you don’t take your medication odds are that you won’t get the full benefit of the treatment. As former US surgeon general Dr. C. Everett Koop said, “Drugs don’t work in people who don’t take them”. In the worst case, you could be among the patient population who are hospitalized as a result medication non-adherence. The cost to the healthcare system? Phenomenal! Mortality count? Sinister! Morbidity rates? Unacceptable!

At its root, this problem, like many, is a problem of human behaviour. Even Hippocrates (460-377 BC), the “Godfather of Medicine”, gave early warnings of the non-compliance issues to his students and colleagues. (”Keep watch for that fault in patients which makes them lie about the taking of things prescribed.”). Even though we are “creatures of habit”, we often lose momentum when taking medications, especially for chronic conditions.

The Non-Compliance Money Waste List

There have been several attempts at using technology to influence compliance rates. As one scans the Web looking for potential help, some solutions that arise include:   (1) A variety of medication reminders that will beep, blip or blurt when it is time to take your medication. (2) A variety of devices that can track the number of times a medication dosage has been removed from a medication pack or a medication container (USA) that has been opened. The data collected can be downloaded at the doctor’s office or pharmacy to check compliance statistics. (3) A variety of devices that can remind the patient to take their medications and confirm that they have taken it by pressing a button to send the data.  (4) A miscellaneous group of reminder devices with alarms, like automated pill boxes or wrist watches.

OtCM™ -  Objective therapy Compliance Measurement.

One of the weaknesses of these approaches is that one can never guarantee that the patients have taken their medicine after an alarm. In fact, one can’t detect if the medication unit dosage has been taken, or if the medication unit dosage has even been taken at the right time.

A new technology has arrived that has the potential to dramatically impact the therapy compliance rates for individuals, particularly seniors, as they go about their daily lives. The name of this technology is OtCM™, Objective therapy Compliance Measurement, using the most recent RFID/NFC (Radio Frequency Identification, Near Field Communication) technology, including embedded sensor functionalities, and combined with printed organic electronics.  The OtCM™ application was invented by Jos Geboers and Willem Kort, who are working in the healthcare industry, especially in clinical pharmaceutical R&D, Health Economics, Outcomes Research and Patient Recorded Outcomes.  To that purpose Messrs. Geboers and Kort initiated the foundation of a consortium that includes all players, i.e. top listed pharmaceutical companies, medication packagers, health insurers and Royal DSM N.V.: “The Compliers Group” (DSM TCG).  DSM TCG wanted a way to be as certain as possible that patients were taking their medications at the correct frequency each day. They knew that, whatever solution they decided on, it needed to be “real time” since any delays in therapy could have serious health consequences. A novel system for measuring the time and quantity of drugs taken out of conventional, existing medication packaging or medication container, is used.  “Leading” versus “Bleeding” edge …

The existing medication package will do …

The system consists of conventional, existing medication blister pack (or “bottle”) of a given prescription drug furnished with “organic electronics” (circuitry, power supply), i.e. functional polymers and coatings, to print “the micromechatronic blister/bottle”. A “traditional” silicon RFID/NFC IC (Integrated Circuit) that has been especially designed for OtCM™ with integrated interfaces for i.e. clock and temperature functionality, provide the intelligence to identify data (date-time) of pills/capsules that have been taken out of the blister pack/bottle, whilst wireless Radio Frequency (RF) techniques (NFC, Near Field Communication) are able to transfer data wirelessly from the “OtCM™ enabled blister/bottle” onto DSM TCG’s webserver.

Driven by the intelligence of the RFID chip, embedded in the “mechatronic circuitry”, and the printed power supply (capacitator, battery), an electric current is circulating through the circuitry of the packaging at regular time intervals. As soon as a dosage is removed out of the packaging, the chip is activated. This information is stored. When in close proximity of a (NFC) reader,  the recorded information in the packaging will be transferred and stored in the server to populate the Therapy Compliance Database of active patients, under all regulatory recommended & required security and privacy conditions, locally and globally.

The standard existing medication blister package will do at a fraction of the traditional costs!

The concept of using the technology of printing functional polymers and coatings is an innovative approach. A large variety of  applications in real-life situations has been brought about, especially for purposes of identification of products and, consequently, the packaging of products.  The standard medication blister package will do at a fraction of the traditional costs!   Moreover, until now, traditionally available therapy compliance devices are extremely costly, even if mass-produced. Mass produced RFID-tags combined with polymer printing will introduce low-pricing schedules, based on factors of 90-95% reduction vs. currently available “traditional electronic” OCM devices, i.e. pill boxes or so-called “smart pill boxes”.

DSM TCG’s OtCM™ technology can be combined with GP Solutions (UK) Ltd’s patented and approved Dose Guard™ solution; a child resistant senior friendly secondary barrier that when applied to a blister pack will render it safe for use. Both “come with the standard, existing medication package”.  From surveys it has been identified that patients and health practitioners (physicians, medical specialists, pharmacists) only appreciate the enabling of OtCM™ right from the medication packaging. There obviously is no need for an additional, “stand-alone” therapy compliance measurement (recording) device separated from the medication package.

During OtCM™ we measure through the standard medication packaging:

(1) when the pill/capsule is taken,

(2) the location of the removed pill/capsule onto the blister packaging,

(3) the correct dosing schedule,

(4) an acoustic signal might prompt the for action,  data re: expiration date,

(5) production information re: temperature, batch IDs from the production line,  drug interaction alerts.

This real-time “interventional approach” is what stands apart from other compliance solutions.  In conclusion, it is clear that there are several technological approaches that are aimed squarely at the problem of medication compliance. Though these advances give our “inner geek” some encouragement, they are ultimately targeted at making sure that at-risk populations stay on track as they take medications to improve their health status. David Rosa, Willem Kort

You can find further information on compliance and evolving technologies, via Design Cognition’s sister site ‘The Pharma Gateway‘. Also, if you are interested in our forthcoming compliance workshops – let us know.

Contact Chris Penfold (chris@designcognition.com).

As 2009 draws to a close, we’d like to express our thanks and best wishes to all of our customers, suppliers and associates. Have a fantastic Christmas break and a happy & prosperous New Year and we look forward to doing further business with you all in 2010.

The Design Cognition team have put together the attached video production as a bit of light hearted seasonal frivolity.

We hope that you like it.

Just a quick note to confirm that both Annie and myself have been honoured with the title of Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) by the Society for the Environment, through our membership of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3) and because of our life-long commitment to developing sustainable packaging solutions in our day-to-day projects. It’s nice to have it recognised and, by implication, recognition of the fact that packaging actually provides a beneficial (environmental) role in society.

This also sits nicely with our appointment last year as Technical Advisors to WRAP (the UK government-run Waste Resources & Action Programme) in ‘Waste Minimisation – Packaging Product Waste’. I feel that a key component of this has been our understanding of the requirements of present environmental legislation, in particular the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging waste) and Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations, which have been key in a number of recent environmental & sustainability assessments

‘Sustainable development’ to me is all about taking a ‘helicopter’ view of any product development to understand:

• environmental impacts throughout the whole supply chain (from raw material extraction, through use & disposal, to reuse and recovery) whilst
• attempting to meet consumer convenience needs,
• BUT minimising the overall environmental impact through intelligent design of pack (primary, secondary & tertiary), using the optimum material specifications & most economical footprint possible.

I believe that key to our CEnv award was our continued application of the principles of sustainable environmental management and development in our work. Over my 30 year career ‘the environment’ has become ever-more prominent on everybody’s agenda, evolving from the early days of the ‘Topfer Decree’ to the more recent ‘Plan A’. We have endeavoured throughout to apply the principles of sustainable environmental management and development in all of our work as ‘environmental packaging champions’:

• Acting as an internal consultants for marketers & other business stakeholders – advising on ‘fitness for purpose’ and ‘environmental best-practice’.
• Highlighting issues with existing packaging to our work colleagues
• Applying ‘sustainable principles in the hundreds of packaging developments on which We’ve worked

Moving forwards, I pledge that Design Cognition will continue applying the principles of sustainable development and environmental responsibility in all of our work. As CEO of a company that not only develops packaging but also acts in a consultancy capacity (advising on packaging ‘sustainability’ & ‘the environment’) I carry the mantle with a great deal of pride and self-fulfilment – enjoying making a ‘real difference’ in the world.

• Our initial discussions with clients always encompass sustainable aspects – and that will continue
• One of our ‘values’ (shown on our website) is to be ‘environmentally aware’:
• “bearing in mind our impact on the environment and eco-systems in all that we develop and in our day-to-day business”
• Through this ethos I will encourage all in Design Cognition to ‘live’ our environmental policy as a holistic approach to encompass not only work we do for clients but also in our day-to-day business activities.

We look forward to working with you

Chris

You may recall that we recently went on a UKTI Trade mission trip to Los Angeles to better understand the potential of the US market. Hardly a ‘normal’ week for us, but we managed to capture events as we went along and here is our summary of a fantastic adventure that worked out really well for us and certainly raised our profile! Anyone that would like a job – ‘please apply within’ Chris

My Week: Chris Penfold, of Design Cognition

Published – Tuesday, November 24, 2009, from www.thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk/

Friday: Our company, Design Cognition, provides packing development and consultancy services to the pharmaceutical industry.

We have been thinking about exporting our skills and services to the US, which represents 40% of the global healthcare market, so a trade mission to the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists convention in Los Angeles seems an ideal route in.

Through UKTI, we manage to secure a free Club Class flight with BA – sadly only one. I fly ‘cattle class’ whilst our chief technical officer Annie Dallison enjoys the Club lounge, Champagne reception and a top-of-the-range bed. I sit with my bag of crisps, a bottle of water and a good book.

Arriving at Los Angeles airport we are greeted by a friendly character who directs us to the hotel shuttle bus and then announces that he is a volunteer collecting for the destitute and homeless of LA. We give him a small donation.

As we enter LA, the problem facing President Obama becomes ever more apparent as we see a number of homeless sleeping rough by the roadside. It’s obvious why donations for the destitute are needed. We certainly take our NHS service for granted. Despite its many faults, we can expect a certain level of care from a system which is the envy of the world.

Saturday: Our hotel is actually a ‘motel’ with a few extras such as a pond for a swimming pool. I get the Jacuzzi in my room and Annie doesn’t, so I feel slightly vindicated after the flight arrangements.

Sunday: After breakfast we catch up with George Canty of the East Midlands Healthcare and Bioscience iNet, who is representing UKTI. He will be helping us to meet potential customers, suppliers and partners and to discuss funding with investors.

We decide to spend today on the Pacific coast at Santa Monica and Venice Beach where tea and cake at the Tudor tea rooms includes a choice of any tea from around the world, including Typhoo and PG Tips.

The afternoon is spent at the LA Convention Centre where we set up the stand for the show.

The trade mission has involved a number of our BioCity Nottingham sister companies including Pharmaceutical Development Services and Food & Drink Analytical Services. We will be sharing stand facilities for the next few days.

This evening UKTI holds a networking meeting at the ‘Scottish Pub’ so we get to know the UKTI representatives in the US.

The team get to meet The British Consul General, Dame Barbara Hay

Monday: Still ‘Sleepless in LA’ with a 4.30am awakening. I’m finding difficulty adjusting to the eight hour time difference, so I use my time productively to catch up on emails and to press my crumpled suit.

The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists’ exhibition doesn’t start until 12.30. It is momentarily disrupted by animal rights protestors so security levels are high. The event gets off to a good start and we have a steady stream of visitors to our stand.

The purpose for our being here is to learn as much as possible about the US market and to assess how we might help US pharmaceutical companies to better understand European pharmaceutical packaging requirements and regulations.

Tuesday: A full day at the show is followed by an evening reception hosted by UKTI and the British Consul General, Dame Barbara Hay.

We are on the 54th floor of the Wells Fargo building with fabulous panoramic views of illuminated LA. Today is my 50th birthday so it is great to celebrate in style.

In a quieter moment we get to meet Samuel L Jackson

Wednesday

I manage to sleep in until 5am as my body continues to adjust. The third day and climax of the show is slower but we attract some potential leads.

Thursday

We leave for England today and everything seems to be going according to plan.

Annie makes the most of being amongst the privileged in the Club Class environment whilst I have another sandwich. Our expectations for this trip had been modest and we hadn’t expected to come back with a ‘shed full’ of orders, but we both agree that the trip has been invaluable.

You can read the ‘This is Business’ article here: LA Article

NOTTINGHAM science companies will lead a delegation of UK firms pitching for business during one of the biggest events in the American pharmaceutical industry’s calendar.

Businesses from the city account for one-third of the firms in the English delegation attending a reception during the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences (AAPS) annual meeting in Los Angeles.

They will meet potential customers and investors next week at an event hosted on their behalf by the British Consul in LA, Dame Barbara Hey.

The Nottingham firms taking part in the 20-strong delegation are Critical Pharmaceuticals, Design Cognition, Food and Drug Analytical Services, Molecular Profiles, Pharmaceutical Development Services and R5 Pharmaceuticals.

The US pharmaceutical market is the biggest and most lucrative in the world, with companies bidding for work in a field where the biggest firms routinely outsource research, development and service work to smaller companies.

Some of the Nottingham firms will be going to link-up with existing contacts, while others, such as specialist packaging and product development firm Design Cognition, are first- timers. Chris Penfold, the company’s chief executive, said: “We are on a fact-finding mission, to learn as much as possible about the US market and assessing where and how we can add value for US pharmaceutical companies looking to export, through our understanding of packaging requirements and regulations of global markets.”

His company is working closely with Pharmaceutical Development Services, which already has an office in the US state of South Carolina, another industry hotspot.

“Making a move into the US requires a great deal of market as well as regulatory intelligence,” said managing director Michael Gamlen.

“Close working relationships and collaboration are key to success and our respective consultancy services dovetail perfectly to add potential value for US companies.”

To read the full article, click here: http://bit.ly/Ox0hr

Watch this space for further information as I will be following up with This is Business- East Midlands (Nottingam Evening Post) after the AAPS event.

Design Cognition are pleased to announce the launch of two new websites that will better meet the evolving needs of our pharmaceutical clients and the wider community in the areas of healthcare packaging design, news & compliance.

FIRSTLY, if you are involved in any way with pharmaceutical packaging design, development or managing pack change, our new healthcare-related blog site www.healthcarepackaging-pulse.com will provide you with a daily snapshot of current news & views from the world of pharmaceutical packaging & affiliated areas – from Rx through OTC, Medical Devices and GSL. Learn from the industry ‘best-in class’.

It will cover creative topics such as design, innovation, and technology,through commercial issues such as cost-optimisation and supply chain performance to regulatory and legislative change affecting the industry.

You can follow these healthcare blogs on Twitter at http://twitter.com/healthcare_pack

We hope that you enjoy them and if you are going to AAPS in Los Angeles, November 9th-12th, why not come & visit us at ‘Booth 1962′ to discuss these in more detail? See you there!

Chris Penfold

It has been mandatory to include Braille on all new EU Marketing Authorisations since 30th October 2005.

According to Article 56(a) of Council Directive 2001/83/EC it will be mandatory to include Braille on ALL EU pharmaceutical packaging by October 2010. This includes pharmaceutical products which were launched prior to October 2005.

Braille must show the name of the medicine and the appropriate strength, where more than one strength is available.

Braille alphabet

Support for Braille introduction
At Design Cognition we take the implementation of Braille very seriously. That is why our Chief Technical Officer Annie Dallison volunteered to be a member of The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) working group on Braille standards. Annie, as a leading industry expert, already had over 8 years of experience in the application of Braille on pharmaceutical packaging developing processes and establishing & setting standards for blue chip companies, making her an ideal member of the working group.

CEN working group
This CEN working group is made up of dedicated representatives from the packaging industry, trade associations, regulatory bodies and blind associations from across Europe.

This group has been working for over 3 years to determine and agree standards, including the Braille font style (Marburg medium) and measurement of Braille cell dot height that can be applied across the whole of the EU. One of the main issues for the team has been reaching agreement on the cell dot height that the blind associations feel will be sufficient to meet the needs of the blind users and also industry believe is commercially achievable. The final standard will hopefully be available before October 2010.

If you’d like find out more and how to avoid breaking the law, get your FREE ‘Introduction to Braille’ follow this link:

http://www.thepharmagateway.com/

If you are going to AAPS in Los Angeles, November 9th-12th, why not come & visit us at ‘Booth 1962′ to discuss this in more detail? See you there!

Chris Penfold

Published By James Quinn, Daily Telegraph, 26 Oct 2009

Save for the economy, in the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency the issue he has spent the most time on has also been the most contentious – the future of healthcare.

As he tries to right the failings of several of his predecessors, the US president’s push to increase healthcare provision for the 20pc of Americans without health insurance – at the same time as not overly increasing the burden on taxpayers – is a difficult task.

With the US budget deficit at $1.42 trillion, the $829m (£506m), ten-year cost of the Senate finance committee’s bill – the main one of five pieces of legislation President Obama is to attempt to meld together in the coming weeks – may just be too much to bear.
Whatever the outcome, however, it is clear that the $2.3 trillion-a-year US healthcare industry offers significant opportunities to make money.

For British companies, the sheer breadth of the market – with its regionalised approach and the power of private medical insurance companies – might be unnerving, but in fact offers clear advantages, as Nottingham, UK  based Design Cognition hope to capitalise on over the coming weeks as part of a UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) “mission” to the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) in November.

If you are a company that want to launch your pharma products into new markets but are confused by packaging requirements & regulations, find out more about how Design Cognition can help at www.thepharmagateway.com

Design Cognition is also looking for individuals /companies that can provide collaborative support ‘on the ground’ in the US to help facilitate entry into the US pharma market. For further details contact Chris Penfold, Chief Executive.

You can read the full Daily Telegraph article here: http://tinyurl.com/yg2pkoc

Design Cognition have teamed-up with Top10Tips.co.uk to provide support to small businesses. The Top10Tips website provides a range of resources for Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) covering all sorts of areas pertinent to a business start-up, including the following:

Top 10 Tips Logo

* Packaging Design
* Search Engine Optimisation
* How to Choose a Marketing Mentor
* Strategic Marketing for Start-Ups
* Brochure Writing
* Social Responsibility for Small Business
* Brochure Design
* Email Stationery Design
* Marketing your Small Business

In terms of packaging design, I’ve provided my Top Ten Tips to help get you started. As I state there, “Packaging is often the last thing to be thought about in a long chain of events during the development of a product; often an after-thought. However, packaging is the main component to deliver consumer convenience and something that can vastly affect the satisfaction or otherwise of a products performance.”

So if you’d like to ‘get it right first time’, you can read the full article (all 1 -10 Packaging Design tips) by clicking the following link. Have read and let me know what you think. Cheers Chris Penfold

http://tinyurl.com/ycffqp2