Novartis Oncology has unleashed a pair of mobile phone apps that cater to patients or doctors, building on the pharma giant's digital outreach efforts that already include multiple offerings on app stores from Google ($GOOG) and Apple ($AAPL).
 |
| MyNetManager--Courtesy of Novartis Oncology |
Like many of its Big Pharma counterparts, Novartis has previously released multiple mobile apps that cater to patients and doctors as smartphones and other portable computers become infused into our everyday lives--including how we access health information. In fact, 45% of American adults own a smartphone and 72% of people search online for health information, according to recent data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Available for both Apple and Android devices, the drugmaker's latest two apps from the cancer division of Novartis include ClinicalTrialSeek and MyNetManager, a supported by patient advocates that is designed to help people with neuroendocrine tumors manage their illness. Novartis ($NVS), which markets Afinitor for neuroendocrine tumors, has previously supported a website that provides information on treatments of the rare cancers.
 |
| ClinicalTrialSeek--Courtesy of Novartis Oncology |
ClinicalTrialSeek lets patients search NIH data for clinical trials that could be a fit based on the treatments and diseases under investigation, location, development phase and other aspects of the studies. The app, which rocks the Novartis logo, also provides information about how trials work and those that the company and others are sponsoring. Eli Lilly ($LLY) and others have launched similar apps in hopes of educating patients about clinical trials--and perhaps boost enrollment too.
Novartis sent FierceBiotech IT information about the new apps in an email, but the company was unable to speak over the phone about the new software. Its earlier apps include the mobile software to assist patients with sickle cell disease and doctors in determining prognoses for a cancer known as myelodyplastic syndrome.
Novartis' VaxTrak, an app for tracking vaccinations, was inexplicably missing from the Google and Apple app stores, mobihealthnews reported today.
- here's mobihealthnews's article
Slideshow: 15 mobile apps in Life Sciences - 2012