Predict Asthma Conditions using an App

Propeller launches API that predicts local asthma conditions

“Smart inhaler” player Propeller Health is rolling out an application programming interface (API) that provides information on local asthma conditions.

The service, dubbed Air, uses machine learning to analyze millions of days of anonymized asthma-related data to forecast the potential effects of the local environment on people’s breathing, Propeller said in a statement. These data include when people have asthma symptoms and the environmental conditions at the locations and times they have symptoms.

Propeller markets a sensor that attaches to an inhaler and tracks where a patient uses his or her inhaler. The sensor then transmits this data via Bluetooth to a smartphone, where an app analyzes where, when and why a patient took his or her medication.

GlaxoSmithKline and Propeller Health are expanding their R&D partnership, inked in 2015, into a commercial one, under which both companies will be able to commercialize Propeller’s digital respiratory health management system for use with Glaxo’s Ellipta inhaler.

Propeller’s platform includes a sensor that attaches to various inhalers and tracks when patients take their medication. These data are sent via Bluetooth to a smartphone app, which uses machine learning to help patients and physicians better understand what may be causing asthma or COPD symptoms.

In December 2015, Propeller signed on to create a custom sensor for GSK’s Ellipta inhaler, to be used in clinical studies of asthma and COPD. A year later, the company notched an FDA clearance for the use of its platform with Ellipta, its eighth FDA clearance.

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"We are excited to be working closely with GSK to make the sensor for the Ellipta inhaler available in our commercial programs, and for the first time, as part of commercial pilots with GSK outside the US," said Propeller CEO David Van Sickle in a statement. "Companion digital experiences simplify and personalize the management of chronic respiratory disease, and help ensure individuals and their physicians realize the benefits of inhaled medicines."