Boehringer Ingelheim Enters Commercial Partnership with Propeller Health

Propeller Health, a digital health platform for respiratory medicine, and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, a global pharmaceutical company and provider of inhaled medications for respiratory diseases, have entered into a commercial partnership that aims to use digital health tools and services to help people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.

According to a March 23, 2016 press announcement, under the terms of the partnership, people living with COPD and asthma, who are being treated with a Boehringer Ingelheim prescription medication approved for use in the company’s Respimat (tiotropium bromide) inhaler, will have the opportunity to enroll at select US health systems in a new program that is designed to determine how Propeller’s novel health technology tool for the Respimat inhaler impacts adherence rates and patient engagement.

In March 2015, FDA granted 510(k) clearance to market Propeller’s health technology platform in association with the Boehringer’s Respimat inhaler. Propeller also received clearance for the platform in association with GlaxoSmithKline’s Diskus dry powder inhaler.

The Propeller platform passively tracks how and when each patient uses their inhaled medications and can send alerts to patients and their caregivers. Propeller’s platform remotely monitors the use of inhaled rescue and controller medications in asthma and COPD, analyzes patient trends, and provides regular feedback to patients using a combination of inhaler sensors, apps, analytics, personal feedback, and education. The Propeller system has FDA-granted claims to increase adherence to therapy, predict oncoming exacerbations and help reduce the frequency of symptoms and exacerbations in asthma and COPD.

According to a press announcement, Propeller has been used by patients with respiratory diseases in more than 40 commercial programs across the US, including major healthcare systems, payers, employers and other organizations. It is compatible with the majority of commonly used asthma and COPD inhaler devices including controller and reliever metered dose inhalers (MDIs), and other inhaler devices (dry powder inhaler [DPI] and soft mist inhaler [SMI]).

Source: Propeller Health