KIT
N
ovo Nordisk's main
product has always been
insulin, but it also came
out with the novel idea
of an 'insulin pen' back
in 1985. The NovoPen was a simple yet
brilliantly innovative device back in its day. It
used pre-filled cartridges and twist-on pen
needle and revolutionized how people with
diabetes took their insulin, pretty much
making it cool overnight. The pens did not
look medical and could reside quite happily
in a pencil case, pocket, purse or bag. It
was the biggest change in insulin injecting
since disposable syringes had taken over
GET CONNECTED
Connected insulin pens, and pen caps that track doses are all
the rage these days. By Sue Marshall
from glass-and-metal ones decades earlier.
But the one thing missing from this
fabulous tool, and the others like it that
came from other companies in the insulin
sector, was that there was no way to
track doses other than people keeping
the information in their memory or writing
it down in a diary. Doctors must have
despaired, as only the most ardent diabetic
would put down all their doses correctly.
The lack of ability to track insulin doses
was so obvious that at least two people
with diabetes that I know of have brought
out their own solutions, which they have
had to try to market. But with any niche
device or tool, it's costly and relies on a
fair dose of luck to make the product well
known and easily available. See below to
read more about InsulCheck and Timesulin
(both of which we've covered before).
Now the industry's bigger insulin
providers are getting in on the act too,
and it's about time.
Novo Nordisk is again taking the lead,
stepping up to 'get with' the digital era.
Working with Flex Digital Health, part
of Flex (formerly known as Flextronics),
this year Novo Nordisk is rolling out two
versions of a new 'connected' insulin pen.
These will use Flex's BrightInsight platform,