Apple, GlaxoSmithKline partner for arthritis study

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO (AA) – Apple has forged its first partnership with a pharmaceutical company in order to conduct a clinical study of rheumatoid arthritis, drug company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced Monday.

U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline will immediately begin conducting the three-month study of 300 arthritis sufferers in the United States.

Eligible patients aged 21 and older, can participate in the study by downloading the Patient Rheumatoid Arthritis Data from the Real World, or PARADE, study app from the iTunes App Store. The app utilizes Apple’s ResearchKit platform, which is aimed at helping scientists and companies conduct wide-ranging research.

The partnership between the tech and drug giants is notable for Apple, which has voiced ambitions to penetrate the medical space.

The app will track physical activity and will continually survey participants about common arthritis symptoms including joint pain and fatigue. The information will be sent to GSK, but participants will be able to see the data they can send to their health care providers.

“Our goal is to engage with patients in a new way that integrates the research into their daily lives versus the traditional model that requires patients to travel to their doctors’ offices,” Rob DiCicco, GSK’s vice president for clinical innovation, said in a statement. “By making research as easy and accessible as possible for patients, we have the potential to disrupt the model for how we conduct research in the future and ultimately improve patient health.”

The trial is not testing medication, but gathering general patient data – the first step in developing a drug.

“The medicines development process starts with learning from real patients by including their insights and health goals into our research,” GSK said.