Earlier this month, Ely Lilly announced that diabetes management companies Dexcom, Glooko, myDiabby Healthcare and Roche will integrate the pharma giant’s Tempo pen and Tempo Smart Button into their respective software platforms and/or medical devices.
These agreements will optimise the offering of the above-mentioned diabetes products and services, which will now be able to collect and share personal health data.
Marie Schiller, vice president of product development for connected care and insulin at Eli Lilly, stated following the announcement that she believes working with these innovative partners, who share a common vision of improving diabetes outcomes through the blending of digital solutions and medicine, holds promise for the global diabetes community.
Lilly’s Tempo pen is a 2.0 version of its existing pre-filled, disposable insulin pen, which attaches to its Tempo Smart Button. The company is awaiting CE mark approval for the smart button by the end of the year, after which it plans to launch both products in several international markets.
According to the CDC, 34 million people in the US currently have diabetes.
While the disease can be controlled with proper management, failure to treat it can lead to hospitalisation, kidney disease and ultimately death. Indeed, the CDC reports that in 2017, diabetes was the 7th leading cause of death in the US.
These collaborations will provide future users with a holistic solution for diabetes management through the use of Eli Lilly’s Tempo range integrated with some of the leading platforms and devices in the space.
These include Dexcom’s continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, Glooko’s digital platform, MyDiabby Healthcare’s French diabetes management platform and Roche’s mySugr app.
Schiller explained how the Tempo Smart Button will allow people using insulin pens to stop manually tracking their doses, paving the way for more accurate treatment management.
“By integrating data from connected insulin pen solutions into widely used compatible software, including potential future collaborations, we aim to support improved decision-making for people with diabetes and their healthcare providers with accurate, real-time data collection. These solutions can also help remove psychological barriers such as fear of hypoglycaemia, which can have a negative impact on diabetes management.”
The diabetes management space is coming together to improve patient outcomes. Roche has already signed an agreement with Novo Nordisk to connect the mySugr logbook with the NovoPen 6 and NovoPen Echo Plus. It has also partnered with Diabeloop to integrate Roche’s Accu-Chek Insights insulin pump with the latter’s monitoring system.
Meanwhile, Glooko secured $30 million in its latest Series D funding round this year. The funds will help boost adoption of its remote monitoring platform, expand the commercialisation of its products in clinical research and enter new therapeutic areas.
Dexcom is also gaining space in the market, having launched a healthtech-focused investment arm called Dexcome Ventures earlier this year. The company also reports a 25% increase in global revenue, but its shares have since plummeted and are currently trading at $351, down from $425 at the end of April.