Clinical trials on people to verify the safety and efficacy of new drugs have so far been conducted at hospitals. Patients had to visit hospitals on schedule for as long as several years. COVID-19 also changed the formula for clinical trials. However, it was difficult to confirm whether patients were taking their medicine properly at home.
Because of this, the pharmaceutical industry is shifting toward remotely managing patients. The key is data that records when and how medicine and yakgwa were taken. In other words, securing systematic data has become important.
Chief Executive Lee Hwi-won of InHandPlus worked at Samsung Bioepis, handling drug delivery system development and clinical support. At that time, Lee realized the need for systematic medication management and remote patient monitoring. The idea that patients should be made to take medicines in the right dose and on schedule, and that their daily lives should be connected to data, led to a business.
"We founded InHandPlus in Mar. 2019 and developed a system that uses a smartwatch incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically recognize patients' medication behavior. If existing smartwatches were limited to measuring simple metrics like heart rate or step count, the smartwatch we developed can analyze users' medication gestures and eating patterns."
InHandPlus's smartwatch is equipped with an AI chip and a camera. It analyzes the user's hand movements to recognize what medicine was taken, when, and how. It secures medication histories and dietary habit data, and can provide personalized services based on that. It goes beyond simple records to automatically collect and analyze behavioral data.
"It is not easy to implement a smartwatch in an 'on-device' form that processes data locally without the internet and even performs AI computation. Our strengths are proprietary data and an On-device AI smartwatch. It is hard to find a company that provides services supporting remote patient management with this kind of smartwatch."
InHandPlus supplies its services mainly to the B2B market, including pharmaceutical companies, insurers, and hospitals. Cumulative investment has reached 5 billion won. It is also collaborating with global pharmaceutical company Medidata and a research group at Oxford University. All are potential customers of InHandPlus, and together they are creating new methods and standards for patient management using smartwatches.
"Our smartwatch is a 'primary doctor on the wrist.' It means we will analyze what you hold in your hand. We have already secured about 60 domestic and overseas patents. We have built barriers to entry so that even large corporations cannot easily enter. One of our investors is a patent law firm, which has been a great help."
InHandPlus plans to sell products directly to individual consumers in the future. It has also devised a noninvasive technology that can check blood sugar without puncturing the skin or mucous membranes. The company is pioneering ways to analyze biometric data with a smartwatch.
"Going forward, the key will be how humans and AI interact, and for adults to benefit from AI, devices that can be worn on the body like ours are ideal. We will grow into a company that stands at the forefront of remote clinical trials."