The “smart pill” market is expected to nearly quadruple in value to $3 billion by 2025, according to Grand View Research. Driving this growth is an increasing demand for minimally-invasive procedures, as well as better patient monitoring capabilities.
There are a number of players in the pharmaceutical and medtech arenas looking to stake a claim to the smart pill market. The companies are segmented into two groups – those developing capsules used for endoscopy and those creating connected, swallowable drug-tracking systems.
Medtronic
Medtronic‘s (NYSE:MDT) SmartPill ingestible capsule measures pressure, acidity, temperature and transit time as it passes through a person’s gastrointestinal tract. Using this data, the system assess GI function and can provide diagnostic information like gastric emptying time and pressure patterns, according to the medtech titan.
Medtronic touts its system as the only motility test that can give a complete transit profile of the GI tract.
The company’s sensor-based capsule takes the place of multiple tests, including gastric emptying scintigraphy, radio opaque markers and whole gut scintigraphy. Also, as upper and lower GI symptoms often overlap, the technology can help localize abnormalities to certain parts of the GI tract.
CapsoVision
This privately-held medical device developer has created miniaturized imaging tech, like its CapsoCam Plus small bowel capsule endoscope system.
CapsoVision‘s CapsoCam Plus won 510(k) clearance from the FDA in 2016. It was a third generation product for the California-based company, but the first to be commercialized within the U.S.
The technology is designed to give a 360-degree panoramic lateral image of the small bowel to help clinicians spot small bowel abnormalities. The system includes the capsule endoscope, a retrieval kit, the data access system and software.
By Sarah Faulkner | Drug Delivery Business News
Image Credit: Medtronic
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