Henkel and Byteflies today have announced an extension of their existing partnership to further drive innovative solutions for remote patient monitoring. Therefore, the companies have signed a letter of intent toward the development of a joint commercial and joint development cooperation. This partnership aims to further strengthen the combination of Henkel´s medical adhesives and printed electronics expertise with remote patient monitoring solutions of Byteflies focusing on ECG monitoring. Together, the partners are driving the development of additional innovative remote patient monitoring solutions on their mission to making virtual care available to all – both in the hospital and at home.
Today, advanced sensor solutions for wearable devices based on printed electronics enable real-time monitoring of patients and the collection of a variety of relevant patient data. The technology offers enormous potential while at the same time still posing challenges for developers and manufacturers, related to, for example, functional material formulations, material compatibility or form factor. Remote patient monitoring solutions are worn on the body, measure vital signs and record them. Thus, these wearable devices play an important role in supporting the treatment of diseases and in improving the quality of life, especially for people with chronic diseases. With their extended partnership Henkel and Byteflies are further driving the development of additional innovative remote patient monitoring solutions and contribute to increasing their availability and adoption.
About the collaboration
Henkel and Byteflies started their collaboration in 2019 by developing a smart health patch together with Quad Industries and four other partners during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, the burden on intensive care units in hospitals was high. The novel COVID-19 health patch technologies proved to significantly contribute to time-savings for practioners, reducing the risk of infection and improving the monitoring of health parameters.
Henkel as a leading materials provider has developed the electrodes and conductive inks. Thanks to these innovative materials, the patch can be used for multiple days rather than just one day while keeping signal quality and patient comfort high.
So far, Byteflies has launched three Care@Home solutions: CovidCare@Home, CardioCare@Home for cardiac arrhythmias, and EpiCare@Home for epilepsy. “We have the ambition to become a world leading partner for healthcare providers to make the transition to virtual care,” explained Hans De Clercq, Co-CEO at Byteflies. “Our Care@Home end-to-end solutions leverage the power of remote patient monitoring and real-world data to generate actionable insights for healthcare providers and patients. The extension of our partnership with Henkel will help us to scale the technology beyond our initial beachhead market in Belgium and current Care@Home solutions and deliver the most reliable and user-friendly wearable solutions to patients and professionals.”
“The latest global developments have exerted pressure onto the global healthcare systems,” added Beate Grobben, Head of Business Development EIMEA for printed electronics at Henkel. “We aim to combine our broad Henkel medical product portfolio, development capabilities, manufacturing support and customer insights with our medical ecosystem. Only together we can accelerate the development, industrialization and go-to market of new technology solutions and enable medical professionals to remotely monitor patients – allowing for better patient treatments, shorter hospital stays and most importantly more patient convenience.”
About Henkel
Henkel operates globally with a well-balanced and diversified portfolio. The company holds leading positions with its three business units in both industrial and consumer businesses thanks to strong brands, innovations and technologies. Henkel Adhesive Technologies is the global leader in the adhesives market – across all industry segments worldwide. In its Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care businesses, Henkel holds leading positions in many markets and categories around the world. Founded in 1876, Henkel looks back on more than 140 years of success. In 2021, Henkel reported sales of more than 20 billion euros. The company employs about 53,000 people globally – a passionate and highly diverse team, united by a strong company culture, a common purpose, and shared values. As a recognized leader in sustainability, Henkel holds top positions in many international indices and rankings. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX. For more information, please visit www.henkel.com.
About Byteflies
Byteflies was founded in April 2015 by Hans Danneels and Hans De Clercq. In the first five years, Byteflies built up a remote monitoring platform in clinical research and have medically certified the solution. This led to strong partnerships with medical research centers and pharmaceutical companies. In 2020, Byteflies accelerated its path to clinical practice fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic. By mid 2022, Byteflies has monitored more than 1000 patients in clinical care. Byteflies is active in several areas such as cardiology, neurology, pneumology, oncology and sleep and is exploring other areas. For more information, please visit www.byteflies.com.
