DrugStars

DrugStars, founded in 2016 by Claus Møldrup, Jesper Kilbaek, and Martin Plambek, operated in the digital health sector with a unique model aimed at improving patient medication adherence. Møldrup, a former professor at the University of Copenhagen and a qualified pharmacist, leveraged his background to address the significant challenge of patients not taking their medication as prescribed. The company developed a mobile application that incentivized users by rewarding them for their adherence.

The core of the business was a patient-facing mobile app that served as a medication reminder tool. When users logged that they had taken their medication, they earned "stars," which could then be donated to a patient charity of their choice. This gamified approach was designed to transform the daily task of taking medicine into a more meaningful activity. Beyond charitable donations, users were also entered into raffles for gift vouchers as an additional incentive.

The company's revenue model was centered on the ethical monetization of aggregated, anonymous user data. While the app was free for patients, DrugStars collected real-world data on medication usage, patient experiences, and opinions on specific drugs. This anonymized data was then sold to pharmaceutical companies, providing them with valuable insights to improve their products and understand real-world drug performance. The income generated from these data sales funded the charitable donations made by the app's users. This created a symbiotic ecosystem where patients were rewarded for adherence, charities received funding, and pharmaceutical companies gained access to real-world evidence.

Over its active years, DrugStars raised a total of $1.03 million in funding over four rounds from investors including Seed Capital, PreSeed Ventures, and Inventure. By June 2019, the app had attracted over 200,000 active users and facilitated more than £200,000 in donations to over 70 patient charities. The company's operations ceased following a merger and acquisition by Oda Aps on December 1, 2021, and it is now considered a deadpooled company.

Keywords: medication adherence, digital health, patient engagement, real-world data, pharmaceutical insights, mobile health app, patient rewards, charitable donations, patient-reported outcomes, Claus Møldrup, health data monetization, medication management, patient support, pharma data, adherence platform, chronic disease management, health-tech, patient behavior, real-world evidence, medication tracking