Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has joined forces with partner Exco Intouch to launch mobile and online health tools in the UK.

The two partners are developing services for patients and healthcare providers to track and manage chronic conditions, with an initial focus on COPD.

Participants in the new service will have access to personalised support as well as  information about their disease via their mobile handsets or other connected device. They will also use mobile devices to upload their own clinical data. The pharma giant is funding the initiative.

Mike Hannay (pictured), the vice president of pharmaceutical development at AstraZeneca, said by expanding its understanding of how patients use various treatment options, “we can better focus our efforts to deliver new medicines that will address unmet needs”.

Exco Intouch’s speciality is in enabling pharma firms to collect patient data from mobile phones during clinical trials. Last year it announced a global partnership with Vodafone.

The companies said part of their plans would involve conducting a clinical evaluation in several NHS clinical commissioning groups. Although it did not say which ones, an executive from the Wirral Health CCG was quoted in their announcement.