Wireless pill bottle wins Boehringer Ingelheim-sponsored healthcare innovation contest

NEW YORK — The makers of a pill bottle that uses wireless technology to keep patients adherent won the grand prize at a recent healthcare innovation contest.

AdhereTech developers Josh Stein, John Langhauser and Mike Morena will receive $50,000 in prize money as winners in the Healthcare Innovation World Cup, an international diabetes innovation challenge funded by Boehringer Ingelheim and organized by HITLAB.

The pill bottle measures the exact number of pills inside in real time and uses HIPAA-compliant wireless technology to send the data to the cloud, with patients receiving automated phone calls or text messages reminding them to take their medications.

"We are impressed with AdhereTech's prototype and the feasibility of their business model, and believe the solution has merit in supporting medication adherence," Boehringer Ingelheim SVP PM business development and licensing strategy and contest judge Klaus Wilgenbus said. "All of the finalists demonstrated outstanding quality and ingenuity in developing their solutions."