About the product
VC-backed DrugStars launches new patient-powered medication insights platform DrugsDisclosed.com, the ‘medication Trustpilot’, allows patients to share real world experiences of their medicines
Copenhagen based, Danish healthcare tech company, DrugStars, has announced the launch of a new online platform, DrugsDisclosed.com. The service is designed to allow patients around the world to share real world experiences of their medicines.DrugStars, the company behind DrugsDisclosed.com, was launched in 2017 by Claus Møldrup, a former professor in social pharmacy at the University of Copenhagen. The company is backed by Inventure (Finland) byFounders (Denmark), Digital Health Ventures (Germany) and PreSeed Ventures (Denmark) and has raised a total of €3.6m in seed funding to date.
The new platform launches with data from over 352,044 unique patient medication reviews from the associated DrugStars medication management app.It has over 55 million unique data points, sharing how medication is working for real people beyond the confines of clinical trials.While many other industries gain valuable feedback through platforms such as Trustpilot to improve their products and services, there has been no similar mechanism for medicines. Uniquely, DrugsDisclosed.com remedies this situation by providing the pharmaceutical industry access to these insights through its associated site, DrugsDiscovered.com. The industry can subscribe for unlimited searches at a monthly fee per employee. This evidence-based secondary market research allows the pharmaceutical industry to listen to patients and take action while remaining compliant with industry regulations.
The widening patient trust deficit The need for patients to be heard is confirmed in research commissioned by DrugsDisclosed.com and market research partner Userneeds.
Results reveal that patients feel ignored once medicines go to market and regard pharmaceutical companies with suspicion. The survey of 3,346 users of prescription and over the counter (OTC) medicines from The UK and The Nordics revealed:
- 76% of patients do not trust advice from pharmaceutical companies about their medication
- 81% feel the pharmaceutical industry influences prescription decisions63% expressed a desire to be able to feedback their experiences to pharma companies. -72% of patients do not feel listened to by pharmaceutical companies Commenting on the launch of DrugsDisclosed.com
Claus Møldrup, said: “Our survey findings will be worrying reading for pharmaceutical companies — uncovering a significant trust deficit with patients. The problem stems from the fact that, until now, there has been no way for patients to speak out and no mechanism for the industry to listen and learn.If medication is to work effectively for everyone, this must change.”
