With new digital Abilify, big brother isn't watching—but your mother could be

A new digital version of Abilify is the first-ever pill to notify patients that they've swallowed it. It may be the first in a wave of dose-tracking drugs that could appeal to patients who forget to take their pills and to payers looking to get their money's worth out of their members' prescriptions.

The pill and its digital companions, now FDA-approved as Abilify MyCite, aren't likely to make a big difference to Otsuka's Abilify sales—certainly not immediately, given its plans for a limited initial launch. The atypical antipsychotic drug is already available as a cheap generic, and doctors are already using an injectable, long-lasting version—Abilify Maintena—to manage patients who have problems sticking to a daily pill regimen. Payers may be wary of the costs.

Then there's the fear factor. The pill and its companion smartphone app allow doctors—and anyone else the patient designates, for that matter—to track their dosing. Those tracking capabilities, which rely on an app that also lets patients record their mood, sleep and exercise, have stirred some anxiety. Some worry that the technology could be used to spy on people or coerce them into drug therapy.