How wearable technology powers patient-focused drug development
Our scientists are exploring the use of sensor-based technologies and digital clinical measures to improve disease understanding
February 10, 2026
Sensor-based digital technologies like smartwatches and other wearables have surged in popularity in recent years. People are easily and conveniently tracking physical activity, sleep and other health-related data — including information that’s helpful for scientists developing new medicines.
At Merck, scientists in our digital clinical measures group are using these sensor-based tools in clinical trials to collect objective measurements which were previously difficult or impossible to obtain. Now, measurements from patients outside the clinic, including at home and work, can provide data that’s more reflective of their everyday lives — deepening our understanding of disease and enabling more efficient and patient-centric drug development.
What are digital clinical measures, and why do we use them?
Digital clinical measures are specific, objective measures of biology, health, behavior or treatment response that are generated via sensor signals from digital technologies processed with algorithms. These measures can be derived from data collected during active task-based assessments, such as timed walk or hand-turning tests performed with wearable sensors, or through passive monitoring, where data are captured continuously as part of everyday activities like walking or sleeping.
Unlike some traditional clinical study endpoints that require lengthy in-clinic exams or patients or caregivers to remember symptoms over days or weeks, sensor-based technologies can objectively and remotely track metrics of health, behavior and treatment response over time. They can also provide more precise measures compared to traditional clinical rating scales.
“Digital clinical measures can augment traditional study endpoints and allow us to collect richer, more frequent data that better reflect how patients live and function day to day.”
- Marissa Dockendorf, Ph.D.
Head of digital clinical measures
“In addition to using digital health technologies — or DHTs — to enhance the data we capture in clinical trials, we’re focused on developing more objective and precise measures from these technologies,” added Dockendorf. “These advancements can enable us to understand more quickly, or with fewer clinical trial participants, whether our drug candidates are working, which ultimately can support our ability to deliver medicines to patients faster.”
Collaborating to advance the field of digital measures
We’re working with partners including the Critical Path for Parkinson’s Consortia, the Digital Medicine Society, the University of Oxford and Koneksa Health to advance development of digital clinical measures. These collaborations focus on furthering the digital endpoint field as well as identifying promising digital measures that may improve how we assess disease progression in patients with Parkinson’s disease and, potentially, how we evaluate the efficacy of investigational therapies.
“Digital endpoints hold tremendous promise to transform how we measure and understand health in clinical research,” said Dockendorf. “To fully realize that promise, collaboration is essential as we lay the important groundwork needed to develop measures that are valid, reliable and capable of making a meaningful impact in drug development.”
Digital clinical measures in action in Parkinson's disease
Our researchers are exploring the use of digital health technologies to measure motor function in clinical trials for Parkinson’s disease. Wearable sensor arrays — devices equipped with multiple sensors worn on the body to capture comprehensive data — can provide a wide range of motor function measures, such as gait and turn speed. Collecting data from these technologies over time may provide a clearer understanding of how motor function changes over time and with treatment as compared to traditional endpoints based on categorical rating scales.
