Merck aims to put Amazon’s Alexa to work on voice-enabled diabetes tools – FiercePharma

Alexa? Help pharma find patient solutions.

Thats what Merck & Co. is aiming for in its new partnership with Amazon Web Services to developdigital voice-enabled solutions for people living with chronic diseases.

Using Amazon Lex, the brains behind the Amazon Echo device and its well-known voice-enabled assistant Alexa, Merck plans to initially work on diabetes. Its first initiative will be a call to entrepreneurs, techies and industry types foran innovation challenge expected to begin within the next month.

The yet-to-be-named challenge will be run by strategy and innovation consultancyLuminary Labs. While specifics havent been released, the call to action will be open to solutions broadly enough that innovators of all stripes can come up with really novel ideas but being narrow enough to provide guidance and carefully evaluate submissions, said Sara Holoubek, founder and CEO of Luminary Labs.

An independent jury will evaluate the submissions based on their use ofvoice-enabled technology thataddresses Type 2 diabetes patient issues.

Merck's long-term planis to create tools for otherchronic diseases using the same Amazon Lex platform and the voice-enabled Alexa home system.

Analysts estimate Amazon will sell more than 110 million Amazon Echo devices over the next four years, and many are already pointing to healthcare as an important item on Alexa'seventual to-do list.

Users will soon go far beyond turning on lights or calling an Uber, and will venture deeper into healthcare, helping people better manage treatments and communicate with caregivers," Luminary noteson its website. "From reminding people of their nutrition plans to scheduling their insulin dosages, the Merck-sponsored Alexa challenge will call on developers to push the boundaries of voice technology for people with diabetes."

See more here:
Merck aims to put Amazon's Alexa to work on voice-enabled diabetes tools - FiercePharma