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Roche Turns to App in Fight Against Multiple Sclerosis

Roche is spearheading an app that will give it seamless insight into multiple sclerosis patients

A figure of eight is drawn on the Floodlight app to rate precision of movement.
A figure of eight is drawn on the Floodlight app to rate precision of movement.

Source: Marthe Fourcade/Bloomberg.

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Most afternoons, Stephanie Buxhoeveden takes a few moments to march back and forth, making at least five U-turns, stand at attention and pinch a digital tomato on her phone.

The unusual ritual is intended to help Buxhoeveden track an unpredictable neurological disorder that largely strikes young women: multiple sclerosis. She’s playing games in an app called Floodlight, which logs her activity and sends it to the servers of drugs giant Roche Holding AG.