“No batteries. No programming. No learning curve.” This is how Remind-A-Cap promotes some of the best features of its new compliance closure for pharmaceutical containers, such as bottles and vials.

The Remind-A-Cap has a simple mechanical dial that is turned from the inside of the closure by the user after taking a dose. Doing so queues up the day and time the next dose is needed in a small window on the top of the cap, which acts as the reminder. No more wondering if you’ve taken your pill for the morning or not.

The inner dial has a wide plastic wing, with raised bumps in the thumb and finger area to help make it easy to grip and spin, even for the elderly or people with limited hand mobility. The dial easily ratchets forward-only with audible clicks, giving users another cue that they are correctly setting the day/time for the next dose.

According to the company’s brochure, 84% of patients cite forgetfulness as the reason for not taking their meds as prescribed. This non-compliance is directly attributed to $47 billion in hospitalization costs. Medication reminders can help improve a patient’s health outcome, though. In 2013, Remind-A-Cap conducted a six-month test that showed the effectiveness of the product, compared to a control group. The percentage of patients who took their drugs regularly was 81% with Remind-A-Cap versus 42% for typical packaging.  The percentage of patients who continued to take/fill their medication was 72% with Remind-A-Cap versus 19% without it.

Matt Ramoundos, evp, director of operations, gives us a few more details about the patented Remind-A-Cap.

Many pharmaceutical companies look to unit-dose packaging to improve compliance these days. Why work on a solution for rigid containers?

Ramoundos: Unit-dose packaging can work for some medication, but is also far from being ubiquitous due to the different dosing/treatment options depending on the patient. Pill bottles allow for flexibility when dispensing, and is an area that lacks scalable options to help patients stay compliant.

You developed the closure to fit on typical pharmaceutical bottles, right?

Ramoundos: Our current products fit on the majority of the typical pharmaceutical bottles. We are also able to retrofit the design to virtually any bottle neck size.

What sizes does the closure come in?

Ramoundos: Remind-A-Cap is available in 33/400 or 38/400 and can be custom built or retrofit to accommodate an existing bottle.

How much does this closure cost compared to typical CT/CR closures?

Ramoundos: Pricing is truly a fraction of other customized adherence caps, which can cost upwards of $35. Depending on program volume and customization requirements, the cost per piece can be well under $1, which can return thousands (or more) in patient health and well-being.

Do all Remind-A-Caps come with the same Day/Time options (such as SUN AM, SUN PM…) or can these be tailored to specific needs of the medication regimen?

Ramoundos: We like to think of Remind-A-Cap as a blank canvas—a technology that is built-to-spec based on the needs of the end user.  When creating a program, we work with our clients to customize the outer cap and the dial (with the dosing times), as well as the neck finish.

Does the compliance dial work on other closure styles, such as snap caps? My sample is a continuous-thread child-resistant (CT/CR) closure.

Ramoundos: Since the technology is able to work with most closures, we are in the process of developing new versions to expand our product line to work with liquids, snap caps and more.

Are you making the closures yourself? If not, who does make them?

Ramoundos: We have partnered with a company based in New Jersey with initial manufacturing in China. However, plans are underway to move manufacturing to the United States in 2015.

My sample has the Berlin Packaging logo on it. How is this leading packaging distributor involved?

Ramoundos: We are excited to be partnering with Berlin Packaging as our preferred packaging supplier.

Do you have any customers yet? If so, who? Where are they using it?

Ramoundos: While we are not able to disclose contracts and programs that are currently underway, we are working with some of the nation’s leading companies—packaging and other—and are being evaluated as a new product offering for pharmaceutical and specialty pharmacy accounts.

How many parts are there to the closure? It looks like three from the sample: a base, the dial and an insert to hold them together.

Ramoundos: Three pieces, right on! We have the “outer cap,” where the branding/prescription information/client’s website lives. On the underside is the “dial,” tailored to the dosage directions. Finally, we have the “CRC,” which does lock into place. The dial locks into the outer cap, rather than the CRC holding the pieces together.

How is the closure assembled?

Ramoundos: Depending on the size and scope of the project, the closure may be manually assembled, or pass through an automatic assembly process.