BeLive: Enabling improved self-management of pain with a revolutionary approach

Although pain is considered the fifth vital sign, no objective measures exist to characterize how patients suffering feel—especially in fibromyalgia. The Pfizer Lyrica® team recognized the value in solving this unmet need for patients, physicians and the brand, which was facing generic competition.

That led to BeLive… the first wearable and app developed to track pain intensity, anxiety, sleep quality, and activity for LYRICA patients—all in real time.

Launched in Brazil and Mexico, hundreds are now capturing and sharing visual data records of their pain, its patterns, and triggers—giving them the chance for better self-management.

We deployed not a user experience, but a human experience—taking into account the patients’ journey not only through the system, but the disease. Those measurable insights led to a friction-less approach in patients’ management of their chronic pain condition. That means there’s a wearable that can track what patients are experiencing in real time and sync up to their mobile devices –creating a true picture of their disease and life—one that could be understood and shared with others.

The wearable design enables Lyrica patients to track three things manually: Intensity of pain (0-10), intensity of anxiety (0-10), and the quality of their sleep (1-5). The wearable automatically tracks activity in terms of steps and distance as well as length of sleep and quality as measured by arm movement. The app allows a visual record of all measurements to be viewed to show patterns and triggers between the different entry data points. For example, these patterns not only change behavior but can change lives by enabling patients to recognize a pattern between one parameter and another (eg: activity and pain), and make lifestyle choices accordingly.

BeLive brought to market in five months, is currently being used by LYRICA patients in BRAZIL and Mexico—made available through their physicians. The long term goal is to turn Lyrica, when paired with a wearable, into a solution that is much more effective (than its generic counterparts) in terms of pain management. Beyond therapeutic benefits, Lyrica patients have the opportunity to take control of their condition with a better understanding of pain, its patterns, and the constellation of parameters it impacts.

The BELIVE program is just the beginning for wearable technology in health—representing a transformation and new hope for millions who can benefit from proactive management of their medical conditions.

To date, hundreds of LYRICA patients in BRAZIL and Mexico are using BeLive with great success in better managing and understanding their pain condition. First, they can share a real picture of their pain with others—letting the data give them a way to better communicate how they are feeling in real time. Secondly, they can look at patterns and recognize triggers for pain, such as the relationship between moving and pain reduction. Thirdly, by recording and monitoring their condition, they are in a position of greater control. Because the wearable and app tracks other biometrics as well, it fits into their everyday life and becomes a “lifestyle partner”. The latest stats on the BeLive program…

2,458 days of activity; 8.1M steps tracked; 67k minutes walked; 4,865 self-reported scores

Following this launch, the goal is to provide this solution for every Lyrica patient around the world and ultimately for any other patient suffering from another condition where proactively monitoring their disease symptoms would be of benefit for them.

The BELIVE program is just the beginning for wearable technology in health…giving many a new understanding of their condition, a new resolve for taking control –better self-management. The technology represents