Pfizer: Plugging Away
Though Pfizer failed to acquire Allergan and decided against splitting into two separate companies, the company has made several other acquisitions in 2015 and 2016 and continues to expand its pipeline.
Pfizer Inc.
235 E. 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 212-733-2323
Website: pfizer.com
Best-Selling Products
| Product | 2015 Sales | 2014 Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Prevnar family | $6,245 | $4,464 |
| Lyrica | $4,839 | $5,168 |
| Enbrel | $3,333 | $3,850 |
| Lipitor | $1,860 | $2,061 |
| Viagra | $1,708 | $1,685 |
| Sutent | $1,120 | $1,174 |
| Premarin family | $1,018 | $1,076 |
| Norvasc | $991 | $1,112 |
| Zyvox | $883 | $1,352 |
| Celebrex | $830 | $2,699 |
| BeneFIX | $752 | $856 |
| Ibrance | $723 | — |
| Pristiq | $715 | $737 |
| Vfend | $682 | $756 |
| Chantix/Champix | $671 | $647 |
| Genotropin | $617 | $723 |
| Refacto AF, Xyntha | $533 | $631 |
| Xeljanz | $523 | $308 |
All sales are in millions of dollars.
Financial Performance
| 2015 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $48,851 | $49,605 |
| Net income | $6,960 | $9,135 |
| Diluted EPS | $1.11 | $1.42 |
| R&D expense | $7,690 | $8,393 |
| 1H 16 | 1H 15 | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $26,152 | $22,717 |
| Net income | $5,036 | $5,002 |
| Diluted EPS | $0.82 | $0.80 |
| R&D expense | $3,478 | $3,620 |
In millions of dollars, except for EPS
Pfizer executives say 2015 was a transformational year for the company as it aims to be the premier, innovative biopharmaceutical company in the industry by the end of this decade. “Innovation, commitment, quality and integrity are the hallmarks of our business, from the development of innovative new products to the delivery of new therapies to patients,” says CEO Ian Read.
CEO Ian Read
The company acquired Hospira Inc. in September 2015, and expects to achieve $1 billion of Hospira cost savings by 2018, 25 percent more than the initial cost savings target of $800 million. Additionally, Pfizer proposed a combination with Allergan that was to be completed in 2016.
However, in April of this year Pfizer announced a termination of the combination with Allergan. Executives say the decision was driven by the actions announced by the U.S. Department of Treasury on April 4, 2016, which the companies concluded qualified as an “Adverse Tax Law Change” under the merger agreement. In connection with the termination of the merger agreement, on April 8, 2016 (which fell into Pfizer’s second fiscal quarter), Pfizer paid Allergan $150 million for reimbursement of Allergan’s expenses associated with the terminated transaction.
Pfizer manages its commercial operations through two distinct businesses: Pfizer Innovative Health – formerly the Innovative Products business – and Pfizer Essential Health – formerly the Established Products business. Executives say in 2015, Pfizer achieved its first year of operational revenue growth since 2009. Executives attribute this largely due to the strong performance of new product launches, despite facing several difficult challenges including another $3.2 billion in losses of exclusivity, the slowdown in several global markets, and the continued pressure on access and pricing for Pfizer medicines.
Executives say Pfizer will continue to stick to four strategic imperatives began in 2011 to transform the company. The imperatives are: Improving the performance of Pfizer’s innovative core; making the right capital allocation decisions; earning greater respect from society; and creating an ownership culture.
Although the proposed combination with Allergan fell through, Pfizer continues to make other deals. In September. Pfizer completed the acquisition of Medvation, a biopharmaceutical company focused on cancer. The proposal, made in August, was for $81.50 a share in cash for a total enterprise value of about $14 billion.
“The addition of Medivation will strengthen Pfizer’s Innovative Health business and accelerate its pathway to a leadership position in oncology, one of our key focus areas, which we believe will drive greater growth and scale of that business over the long-term,” Read says. “This transaction is another example of how we are effectively deploying our capital to generate attractive returns and create shareholder value.”
Pfizer and Medivation began joint operations a day after the completion of the acquisition. “Pfizer and Medivation are now one unified team combining research and resources to combat cancer. This acquisition represents a rare opportunity to expand our business offering with an attractive pipeline and with Xtandi, an important medicine for men with prostate cancer,” says Albert Bourla, group president, Pfizer Innovative Health. “Given the breadth of Pfizer’s existing oncology portfolio and emerging immuno-oncology pipeline, Medivation’s assets will potentially benefit from many novel and productive combinations. Together, we are well positioned to becoming a leading oncology company, speeding cures and making accessible breakthrough medicines to patients – our number one priority.”
Also this year, Pfizer considered taking its Innovative Health and Essential Health business and splitting into two companies based on these units. In September, however, executives announced that this was not going to happen.
“With this decision, our two distinct businesses will remain separately managed units within Pfizer, which we believe is currently the best structure to continue to deliver on our commitments to patients, physicians, payers and governments, and to drive value for our shareholders,” Read says. “We believe that by operating two separate and autonomous units within Pfizer we are already accessing many of the potential benefits of a split – sharper focus, increased accountability, and a greater sense of urgency – while also retaining the operational strength, efficiency and financial flexibility of operating as a single company as compared with operating as two, separate publicly traded companies. We will continue to generate the financial information necessary to preserve our option to split our businesses should factors materially change at some point in the future.”
Executives say both the Innovative Health and Essential Health businesses have delivered solid year-over-year performance over the course of the past three years, as well as strong performance through the first half of 2016, demonstrating their ability to compete on a standalone basis.
In addition to Medivation, Pfizer successfully acquired Anacor, completing the transaction in June 2016 for $99.25 in cash per share of Anacor common stock, for a total transaction value – net of cash and cash equivalents – of approximately $5.2 billion. The merger was proposed in May 2016. Anacor’s flagship asset, crisaborole, a differentiated non-steroidal topical PDE4 inhibitor with anti-inflammatory properties, is currently under review by FDA for the treatment of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis, commonly referred to as eczema.
Pfizer completed a small acquisition in August 2016, when the company acquired all remaining equity in Bamboo Therapeutics Inc., a privately held biotechnology company based in Chapel Hill, N.C., that is focused on developing gene therapies for the treatment of patients with certain rare diseases. Pfizer made an upfront payment of $150 million and has agreed to potential milestone payments to Bamboo’s selling shareholders of up to $495 million, contingent upon the progression of key assets through development, regulatory approval, and commercialization. Pfizer had previously acquired a 22 percent stake in Bamboo in the first quarter of 2016 for a payment of about $43 million. Executives say this acquisition will provide Pfizer with several clinical and pre-clinical assets that complement Pfizer’s rare disease portfolio, an advanced AAV vector design and production technology, and a fully functional Phase I/II gene therapy manufacturing facility. Following the acquisition, Bamboo is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer.
Financial & Product Performance
During 2015, Pfizer generated revenue of $48.85 billion, 1.5 percent less than the amount in 2014. Net income of $6.96 billion was 23.8 percent less than in the previous year. Diluted earnings per share were $1.11, 21.8 percent less than in 2015.
In the first half of 2016, revenue was $26.15 billion, an increase of 15 percent from the first half of 2015. Net income increased slightly to $5.04 billion. Diluted earnings per share were 82 cents, 2.5 percent more than in first-half 2015.
Pfizer’s best-selling product line in 2015 was the Prevnar family of vaccines. Sales were $6.25 billion, 39.9 percent more than in 2014. In first-half 2016, sales were $2.77 billion, 1.5 percent less than in the same period last year.
In July 2016, Pfizer announced that it received FDA approval for an expanded age indication for Prevnar 13 to include adults 18 through 49 years of age, in addition to the already approved indications for adults 50 years and older for the prevention of pneumococcal pneumonia and invasive disease caused by 13 Streptococcus pneumoniae strains in the vaccine and for children 6 weeks through 17 years of age (prior to the 18th birthday) for the prevention of invasive disease caused by the 13 Streptococcus pneumoniae strains in the vaccine.
The second best-selling product for the company last year was the neuropathic pain agent Lyrica. The drug had sales of $4.84 billion, 6.4 percent less than in 2014. In first-half 2016, the product had sales of $2.49 billion, 3.5 percent more than in first-half 2015.
The third best-selling product for Pfizer in 2015 was the rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel, which the company markets outside the United States and Canada under a deal with Amgen Inc. Sales of the product were recorded at $3.33 billion, 13.4 percent less than in 2014. First-half sales of the drug were $1.58 billion, 16.4 percent less than in first-half 2014.
Lipitor was Pfizer’s fourth best-selling product in 2015, at $1.86 billion, 9.8 percent less than in 2014. In the first half of 2016, Lipitor sales were $872 million, 8.2 percent less than in first-half 2015. The cholesterol-reducing product is continuing to be affected by generic competition in all markets.
The fifth highest-selling product for Pfizer in 2015 was the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, at $1.71 billion, 13.6 percent more than in 2014. First-half 2016 sales of the drug were $796 million, 5.6 percent less than in first-half 2014.
In sixth place was the cancer drug Sutent, which generated $1.12 billion, 4.6 percent less than in 2014. Sales in the first half of 2016 were $563 million, 5 percent more than in the same period in 2015.
The seventh best-selling drug for Pfizer in 2015 was the Premarin family of hormone replacement therapy products. Premarin generated $1.02 billion in 2015, 5.4 percent less than in 2014. The first-half 2016 sales were $507 million, about 3 percent more than in first-half 2015.
The company’s No. 8 drug in 2015 sales was the blood pressure drug Norvasc, which generated $911 million, 10.8 percent less than in 2014. During the first half of 2016, Norvasc sales were $476 million, 5.4 percent less than in the same period last year.
The antibiotic Zyvox was the ninth best-selling drug in sales for Pfizer in 2015, making $883 million, 34.7 percent less than in 2014. The product continues to be affected by the loss of exclusivity and associated generic competition, primarily in the United States and certain developed Europe markets. For first-half 2016, Zyvox sales totaled $240 million, 55 percent less than in first-half 2015.
No. 10 for Pfizer in 2015 was the anti-inflammatory Celebrex, at $830 million in sales, compared with $2.7 billion in 2014. The product had sales of $355 million during the first six months of 2016, 17 percent less than in first-half 2015.
The 11th best-selling product in 2015 was the hemophilia medicine BeneFIX at $752 million, 12 percent less in sales than in 2014. First-half 2016 sales were $367 million, about the same amount as the figure generated during first-half 2015.
Pfizer’s 12th-ranked product in sales in 2015 is a newcomer to the list, the cancer drug Ibrance, which achieved sales of $723 million. The drug received accelerated approval by FDA in February 2015 in combination with letrozole for the treatment of postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (ER+/HER2-) advanced breast cancer as initial endocrine-based therapy for their metastatic disease. Pfizer executives say they expect European marketing approval by the end of 2016. During the first half of 2016, Ibrance generated $942 million compared with $178 million in the same period of 2015.
No. 13 in 2015 sales was Pristiq for major depressive disorder. The product generated $715 million, 3 percent less than in 2014. During the first half of 2016 Pristiq achieved sales of $372 million, 10 percent more than in the first half of 2015.
The antibiotic Vfend was the 14th highest-selling product for Pfizer in 2015, with sales of $682 million, 9.8 percent less than in 2014, In first-half 2016, Vfend sales were $319 million, 8 percent less than in the same period of 2015.
The smoking cessation drug Chantix/Champix was Pfizer’s 15th best-selling drug in 2015, at $671 million, 3.6 percent more than in 2014. In the first half of 2016, the product generated sales of $434 million, 31 percent more than in first-half 2015.
During September 2016, a joint meeting of the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee and Drug Safety Risk Management Advisory Committee reviewed data from EAGLES (Evaluating Adverse Events in a Global Smoking Cessation Study) evaluating the neuropsychiatric safety of Chantix. The committees recommended by a majority vote to remove the boxed warning regarding serious neuropsychiatric adverse events from the product’s labeling.
Earlier this year, Pfizer submitted to the FDA a supplemental new drug application requesting updates to the Chantix labeling based on the safety and efficacy outcomes of EAGLES. In addition to requesting removal of the boxed warning, Pfizer proposed retaining the “Warnings and Precautions” section in the labeling regarding serious neuropsychiatric events occurring in patients attempting to quit smoking and updating it with EAGLES data. Pfizer management believes that such a warning would sufficiently inform prescribers of the possibility that these types of events may occur.
EAGLES is a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial, which was conducted by Pfizer in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline and at the request of and designed in consultation with the FDA and the European Medicines Agency. The study is the first and largest to compare the safety and efficacy of all three currently approved smoking cessation therapies, including Chantix, in more than 8,000 smokers with and without a history of psychiatric disorders. It included a novel composite primary endpoint developed by Pfizer with input from the FDA, comprising 16 components reflecting the type of events reported in the Chantix postmarketing experience and included in the labeling. Results from EAGLES were published in The Lancet in April.
“The totality of available scientific evidence, including the outcomes of EAGLES, supports the safety and efficacy of Chantix, and we look forward to the FDA’s decision on the Chantix labeling,” says Freda Lewis-Hall, M.D., DFAPA, chief medical officer and executive VP, Pfizer Inc. “We are pleased with the committees’ recommendation to remove the boxed warning and believe this is an important step toward updating the Chantix labeling to more accurately reflect its neuropsychiatric safety profile and help patients and prescribers make informed decisions about treatment options.”
No. 16 in 2015 sales was the growth hormone drug Genotropin. The product had $617 million in recorded sales, 14.6 percent less than the previous year. Sales in the first half of this year were $277 million, about 9 percent less than in the same period of 2015.
The hemophilia products ReFacto AF and Xyntha were Pfizer’s 17th best-selling product line in 2015, with sales of $533 million, 15.5 percent less than in 2014. First-half 2016 sales were $268 million, 2 percent more than in the same period of 2015.
No. 18 in sales is another newcomer to the list, the rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz. The product achieved sales of $523 million, 70 percent more than in 2014. For first-half 2016, Xeljanz had sales of $414 million, 85 percent more than during the first six months of 2015.
Recent Approvals/Pipeline Updates
To improve the performance of the innovative core by transforming R&D, Pfizer executives say the company is sharpening its focus on core therapeutic areas where it has the best probability of success and striking innovative collaborations. Executives believe this refocused R&D has produced results. The company spent $7.69 billion on research and development, 5.2 percent less than in 2014.
“Since 2011, Pfizer has had 15 new drug approvals, all of them addressing important, unmet medical needs, often through first-in-class mechanisms of action,” Read says. “In 2015, we advanced some 39 proposed therapies in our R&D pipeline, which is now among the strongest in Pfizer’s history.”
Pfizer continues to invest in its new cancer drug Xalkori and received approval from the FDA in March 2015 for it as a potential treatment for a molecular subgroup of non-small cell lung cancer, referred to as ROS-1.
In July 2016, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion recommending extension of the current indication of Xalkori in the European Union to also include the treatment of adults with ROS1-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The CHMP recommendation will now be reviewed by the European Commission, which is expected to issue a decision on whether to extend the EU indication in the coming months. This recommendation is based on efficacy and safety data from the Phase I PROFILE 1001 trial of crizotinib.
Pfizer announced in July 2016 positive top-line results from Oral Clinical Trials for tofAcitinib in ulceratiVE colitis (OCTAVE) Sustain, the third Phase III study of Xeljanz being investigated in patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. OCTAVE Sustain is a 52-week study that evaluated oral tofacitinib 5 mg and 10 mg twice daily (BID) as a maintenance treatment in adult patients with moderately to severely active UC who previously completed and achieved clinical response in either the OCTAVE Induction 1 or OCTAVE Induction 2 studies. Top-line results from the OCTAVE Sustain study showed that the proportion of patients in remission at week 52, the primary efficacy endpoint, was significantly greater in both the tofacitinib 5 mg and 10 mg BID groups compared to placebo.
Pfizer recently withdrew all pending regulatory applications seeking approval of tofacitinib for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis, including its supplemental new drug application in the United States following the October 2015 complete response letter from the FDA. Executives say the withdrawal of these filings will allow Pfizer more time to determine the path forward for tofacitinib in this indication.
In June 2016, Pfizer announced positive top-line results from its second Phase III study investigating tofacitinib for the treatment of PsA in adult patients, Oral Psoriatic Arthritis triaL (OPAL) Beyond. The study met its primary efficacy endpoints with tofacitinib 5 mg BID and 10 mg BID compared to placebo treatment.
In June 2016, Pfizer announced that the FDA Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee voted in favor of approval of ALO-02 extended-release capsules for its proposed indication, “management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate.” The committees recommended the inclusion of abuse-deterrent labeling for intranasal and intravenous routes of abuse. They voted against inclusion of abuse-deterrent labeling for the oral route.
The FDA will take the committees’ recommendations into consideration before taking action on the new drug application for ALO-02.
In July 2016, Merck KGaA and Pfizer announced the initiation of a Phase III study, JAVELIN Ovarian 100, to evaluate the efficacy and safety of avelumab in combination with, and/or as follow-on (maintenance) treatment to, platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease (Stage 3 or Stage 4) with previously untreated epithelial ovarian cancer. JAVELIN Ovarian 100 is the first Phase III study evaluating the addition of an immune checkpoint inhibitor to standard-of-care in first-line treatment for this aggressive disease.
In June 2016, Merck KGaA and Pfizer presented data for avelumab across seven different cancers at ASCO 2016. The avelumab presentations, from the JAVELIN clinical development program, included results from a number of difficult-to-treat cancers, including data from the pivotal Phase II trial of avelumab as a potential second-line treatment for metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.
Additional avelumab data was presented in mesothelioma, adrenocortical carcinoma, NSCLC, and urothelial bladder, gastric and ovarian cancers, as well as updated safety data.
In June 2016, Pfizer announced positive top-line results for two additional Phase III trials, SPIRE-HR (High Risk) and SPIRE-FH (Familial Hypercholesterolemia), for bococizumab (PF-04950615, RN316). Executives say both studies met their primary endpoint, demonstrating a significant reduction in the percent change from baseline in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) at 12 weeks compared to placebo among adults at high and very high risk for cardiovascular events who were receiving a maximally tolerated dose of a statin. SPIRE-HR and SPIRE-FH are the third and fourth of six Phase III lipid-lowering studies to complete and demonstrate positive top-line results. The two remaining Phase III lipid-lowering studies are anticipated to be completed later in 2016.
In July 2016, Pfizer announced that the findings from two pivotal Phase III studies of investigational crisaborole were published in the online issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. According to executives, the detailed results from the AD-301 and AD-302 studies showed that crisaborole achieved statistically significant results on primary and secondary endpoints for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in children 2 years of age and up and in adults compared to vehicle ointment alone..
Pfizer and Merck & Co., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced in June 2016 that two Phase III studies (VERTIS Mono and VERTIS Factorial) of ertugliflozin, an investigational oral SGLT-2 inhibitor for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes, both met their primary endpoints. Full results from the VERTIS clinical development program of ertugliflozin were presented for the first time in June 2016 at the Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.
In September 2016, Merck and Pfizer announced that a Phase III study (VERTIS SITA2) of ertugliflozin met its primary endpoint. According to executives, both 5 mg and 15 mg daily doses of ertugliflozin showed significantly greater reductions in A1C of 0.69 percent and 0.76 percent, respectively, compared with placebo (p<0.001, for both comparisons), when added to patients on a background of sitagliptin (100 mg/day) and stable metformin (≥1500 mg/day). These study results were presented for the first time during an oral session today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Munich, Germany.
Merck and Pfizer plan to submit new drug applications to FDA for ertugliflozin and two fixed-dose combinations (ertugliflozin plus Januvia and ertugliflozin plus metformin) by the end of 2016, with additional regulatory submissions outside of the United States to follow in 2017.
Pfizer announced in June 2016 the final results from the Phase III INO-VATE ALL study evaluating the safety and efficacy of inotuzumab ozogamicin as compared with investigator choice chemotherapy in adult patients with relapsed or refractory CD22-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Results were presented as a late-breaking oral presentation at the 21st Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2016 Annual Meeting. Final results were also published in the June 12, 2016 online issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
In June 2016, Pfizer presented encouraging new data from a Phase I/II study of lorlatinib (the proposed non-proprietary name for PF-06463922), an investigational, next-generation ALK/ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in an oral presentation at ASCO 2016. The study showed clinical response in patients with ALK-positive or ROS1-positive advanced NSCLC, including patients with brain metastases. The ongoing Phase II study is expected to enroll a total of 240 patients across six cohorts (five for ALK-positive and one for ROS1-positive patients with NSCLC), with enrollment defined by degree and type of prior treatment.
Spark Therapeutics and Pfizer announced during July 2016 that the FDA granted breakthrough therapy designation to SPK-9001, the lead investigational candidate in the companies’ SPKFIX program, in development for the treatment of hemophilia B. SPK-9001, a novel bio-engineered adenoassociated virus (AAV) capsid expressing a codon-optimized, high-activity human factor IX variant, is being investigated in an ongoing Phase I/II trial as a potential one-time therapy.
In June 2016, Pfizer presented results from a Phase Ib trial of Pfizer’s investigational immunotherapy agent utomilumab (the proposed non-proprietary name for PF-05082566), a 4-1BB (also called CD137) agonist, in combination with pembrolizumab, a PD-1 inhibitor, in patients with advanced solid tumors. This is the first reported study of a 4-1BB agonist combined with a checkpoint inhibitor. Pfizer is investigating utomilumab as a single agent in certain solid tumors and in combinations across multiple solid tumors and hematological malignancies, including with rituximab in lymphoma and with other immunotherapies, including Pfizer’s OX40 agonist (PF-04518600), Kyowa Hakko Kirin’s anti-CCR4 (mogamulizumab), and avelumab.
In September 2016, Pfizer announced the confirmatory study (REFLECTIONS B537-02) evaluating the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of PF-06438179 (infliximab-Pfizer) compared to Remicade (infliximab) met its primary endpoint. The trial demonstrated equivalent efficacy of the proposed biosimilar PF-06438179 to the originator product as measured by the American College of Rheumatology 20 (ACR20) response at Week 14. PF-06438179 is being developed as a potential biosimilar to Remicade.
REFLECTIONS B537-02 is a Phase III, multi-national, randomized, double blind, two-arm, parallel group study designed to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity of PF-06438179 (infliximab-Pfizer) versus Remicade in combination with methotrexate when administered intravenously to treat patients with moderate to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to methotrexate therapy. This study is also designed to evaluate clinical response, safety and immunogenicity after study drug transitioning from Remicade to PF-06438179 after 30 or 54 weeks of Remicade treatment. PF-06438179 is a chimeric human-murine monoclonal antibody against tumor necrosis factor (TNF) that is currently in development as a potential biosimilar for all currently approved indications of Remicade.
Remicade, which is marketed by Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, is approved in the United States and European Union for rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, pediatric Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, pediatric ulcerative colitis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and plaque psoriasis.
In a more unusual move, in September Pfizer launched a new app, Moodivator, to help motivate and encourage adults who experience depression. According to executives, an increasing number of patients, especially those who suffer from chronic conditions such as depression, are turning to their smartphones to supplement treatment they receive. The new app is intended to provide ongoing motivation in a simple and portable way, to help complement the treatment patients receive by allowing them to track their mood, set goals, and establish routines that can help support them in their daily life. The Moodivator app is free and available to download for iPhones from the Apple App Store
“As awareness of the magnitude and severity of depression continues to mount, technology like the Moodivator app represents a new and exciting frontier for helping people with depression. The option to set, track and achieve personal goals in the Moodivator app ties in nicely with cognitive behavioral therapy techniques that I use often with my patients,” says Susan Kornstein, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, who helped consult on the app’s design. “The opportunity for patients to track and export their mood and goal progress in easy-to-read charts is also very useful, because the progress can then be shared with doctors to help inform care decisions.”
Designed to fit into patients’ schedules and lifestyles, the Moodivator app uses a simple and accessible interface with customizable features. Patients also receive encouraging and inspirational messages in the app to help motivate them as they work to manage their depression. This app includes a number of simple features that leverage some best principles in managing depression such as goal setting, mood tracking, and sharing results with their care providers.
