MedicaSafe Announces Advisory Board Appointments

MedicaSafe has named Esther Dyson and Dr. Andrew Saxon as members of its Advisory Board. Dyson and Dr. Saxon will provide strategic counsel as MedicaSafe accelerates clinical development of its high-risk medication management system for opioid use disorder (OUD). Dyson is also an investor in the company.

"What fascinates me most as an investor and entrepreneur is how we can best use technology to improve the health of Americans. MedicaSafe has taken a fresh, data-rich approach to the opioid epidemic by looking at how technology can better improve the management of high-risk medications that studies show work, but are plagued by poor compliance," said Dyson. "Joining the MedicaSafe Advisory Board is a great opportunity to truly transform the delivery of healthcare."

Dyson has expertise in analyzing the effects of emerging technologies and markets on economies and societies. She serves as an investor and board member of space exploration, health and technology start-ups and currently serves as executive founder of Way to Wellville, a 10-year nonprofit project dedicated to demonstrating the value of investing in health.

"Treatment for opioid use disorder with buprenorphine/naloxone along with behavioral therapies is only effective when supported with proper daily compliance, and this is why the technology that MedicaSafe has developed is so important," said Dr. Saxon. "By providing clinicians with dose-by-dose dispensation data and control over when medication can be accessed, they have the ability to potentially alter the decision-making process and facilitate earlier, potentially life-saving interventions when necessary."

Dr. Saxon currently serves as director of the Addiction Psychiatry Residency Program at the University of Washington in Seattle. He also serves on the editorial boards of the Drug and Alcohol Dependence Journal and the General Hospital Psychiatry Journal and his current research work is supported by the Department of Defense, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Veterans Administration.

"Esther and Andrew’s backgrounds in healthcare and technology are renowned. Their addition to our Advisory Board comes at an ideal time as we make significant progress in our new approach to managing high-risk medications," said Matt Ervin, founder and CEO of MedicaSafe. "Both have already made tremendous contributions to the company and we are grateful for their partnership in shaping the future of healthcare."

The rampant misuse of and addiction to opioids is a serious national crisis that impacts public health and social and economic welfare. Opioids caused approximately 48,000 deaths last year and the total economic burden of prescription opioid misuse is more than $78 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment and criminal justice involvement. While effective treatment of OUD has been demonstrated with buprenorphine/naloxone (B/N) in combination with behavioral therapies, patient compliance is predictive of both relapse and treatment retention. Studies have shown that patients who are noncompliant with OUD treatment in the first three months of treatment are 10 times more likely to relapse than those who are compliant.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the MedicaSafe system produces detailed data on patient behavior with treatment medications. The system is built around pre-packaged buprenorphine/naloxone cartridges that are secure and tamper-evident. Each dose is designed to be dispensed by a SmartKey device. The SmartKey is programmed by certified pharmacies with a treatment plan that allows for dispensation of the right dose at the right time. MedicaSafe provides only the daily dose of medication specified by the prescription, and locks if the patient tries to take extra pills. Each dose dispensation, or the lack thereof, is recorded and collated into treatment reports that enable clinicians to track patient adherence.

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