Otsuka & Proteus Sign 5-Year, $88 Million Digital Pill Partnership

Otsuka Pharmaceutical (Otsuka) recently signed a 5-year, $88 million smart-tablet partnership with Proteus Digital Health (Proteus). Digital pills are pharmaceutical dosages that contain an ingestible sensor inside of the pill, allowing medical data to be transmitted after the pill has been consumed.

The collaboration will see the $88 million going from Otsuka to Proteus for the development of a new generation of ingestible sensors. The focus will particularly be on medicines developed for the treatment of mental health issues, including Abilify MyCite, a prescription medicine for the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder, and major depressive disorder. Just . . .