US firm Proteus Digital Health is to open a manufacturing site in the UK and has unveiled a series of partnerships for UK NHS hospital trusts and universities to assess the company’s technology.

Dubbed ‘smart pills’, Proteus has developed tiny sensors that are included in medication. When swallowed by patients, the pills deliver data from inside the body to a patch worn on the patient’s skin which in turn sends the information to their smartphone.

The firm argues its technology gives patients a greater role in coping with their ailments and allows chronic diseases and drug compliance to be managed more cost effectively.

It has teamed up with the Eastern Academic Health Science Network (EAHSN), The Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA), Oxford University and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and Oxford Academic Health Science Network (OAHSN).

In addition, Proteus said it will employ 200 staff at a new manufacturing base – its first internationally – in the UK.