HUNTINGTON, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 11/29/12 -- U.S. Patent 8,212,658, the fifth in a portfolio of patents protecting technology that could significantly advance medication management, has been issued by the USPTO. New Directions Technology Consulting, LLC (New Directions) is the exclusive market developer of the intellectual property.

New Directions Managing Director Napoleon Monroe, the inventor on all patents in what is called the mMed portfolio for mobile medication management, brings his decades of experience in manufacturing, licensing, regulatory process and risk management to the effort.

"Optimum management of chronic and acute health problems that require medication therapy depends on patients following instructions for treatment prescribed by medical professionals -- what's called 'adherence,'" said Monroe. "But patient nonadherence impedes wellness and drives up to $300 billion of avoidable U.S. healthcare costs, with costs of related lost productivity arguably even greater."

Monroe continued: "As the world's mobile-communications user community grows, new 'smart' tools, such as in the patent claims, can be developed to help patients themselves successfully manage medication therapies outside institutional settings."

He noted that advanced mobile medication management systems using technology protected by the mMed patent portfolio could include:

• medication delivery devices or containers with embedded sensors
• communication devices with cameras, microphones, third-party applications, and short- and long-range communication capabilities to deliver data to patients, caregivers and medical professionals at a central monitoring facility

Such systems could not only give "a critical boost to medication adherence," but also could provide "additional benefits to all stakeholders" in the healthcare supply chain: patients, caregivers, employers, insurers, government and taxpayers, said Monroe. When at Survival Technology (now part of Pfizer), Monroe invented three medical devices that were patented and commercialized, and led teams that invented, prototyped, tested, commercialized and/or scaled up such products as the EpiPen and the Antidote Treatment Nerve Agent Auto-Injector delivery system.

In addition to providing reminders and facilitating the replenishment process, systems based on technology protected by the mMed patent portfolio could do much more, Monroe said, including:

• automate identification of patient and the medication in patient's hands;
• verify dosing;
• relate quantity of medication available;
• provide medication-condition alerts (e.g., premature degradation, breakage);
• inform re drug interactions, adverse drug reactions, abuse;
• instruct for proper use and disposal;
• integrate real-time medication usage data into medical records;
• deliver information to medical professionals in a central monitoring facility; and
• facilitate communication with and support among healthcare professionals.

mMed Patent Portfolio
Monroe noted that one additional U.S. and foreign patents are pending. He added that global healthcare distribution and service company Henry Schein, Inc., where he had been vice president for private-label activities, is the assignee of the patents in the portfolio.

Through New Directions, business opportunities related to the mMed patent portfolio include: licensing of patents or the entire portfolio, licensing for specific disease conditions or geographies, or partnering to develop tools, platforms or systems based on the patents. The U.S. portfolio of granted patents includes:

U.S. Patent No. 7,752,085 (issued 7/6/2010): Product Information Management System
U.S. Patent 7,871,393 (issued 1/18/2011): Injection Device and Case with Reporting Ability: Covers means for showing that a drug containing injector is not being carried by the assigned person by comparing two location reports.
U.S. Patent 8,044,778 (issued 10/25/2011): Injection Device and Case with Reporting Ability: Covers means for including one or multiple medications and dosage forms in cases and communicating added information.
U.S. Patent 8,149,111 (issued 4/3/2012): Central Facility that Communicates with Portable Container via Mobile Device
U.S. Patent 8,212, 658 (issued 7/3/2012): Product Container for Use with Device Capable of Long-Range and Short-Range Communications

Monroe said: "Greater patient autonomy through technology can result in better health outcomes and reduced costs. Providing medication management tools to patients also presents tremendous business opportunities for those at the forefront of the evolving mHealth industry."

About New Directions Technology Consulting, LLC
New Directions Technology Consulting develops commercial opportunities for its clients, primarily in areas of healthcare. The firm's focus is on medication management; telemedicine; advanced drug-delivery systems; and healthcare products information management, including track-and-trace labeling, quality systems and product standards.

For more information about the mMed patent portfolio, please go to www.mmedhealth.com.

Note: mMed is a trademark of New Directions Technology Consulting, LLC. Any other names of actual companies, organizations, entities, products or services may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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