NEWS
Dexcom G6 below left, the nextgeneration
G7 on the right.
NEWS
REPORT
Looking to the future with Dexcom's President Kevin Sayer.
By Sue Marshall.
THE DEX FACTOR
I
met with Dexcom's President
Kevin Sayer earlier this year to
talk about the coming Dexcom
G7 product which is due
become available in the UK
next year. It will supersede the current
Dexcom G6 CGM sensor. But more than
an upgrade, the entire marketplace is
also changing with 'interoperability' being
the new paradigm - bits of kit 'talking' to
each other, meters and sensors sending
data to either insulin pumps, apps (or
both) and even to the Cloud where it can
be seen by HCPs or other carers. We
started off talking about the trend towards
interoperable devices.
"Dexcom CGM sensors already talk to
more pumps than ever before," Sayer told
me. "The current Dexcom transmitter can
speak to two other devices at the same
time. Very few products can do that at
the moment. But, while sharing sounds
lovely, we also have to run our companies
well in order to stay in business and keep
our products out there. We have spent
millions on development of our products
to be sure they work and are easy to use."
Kevin Sayer, President Dexcom Inc
I mentioned that JDRF is pushing
for wide capabilities for interoperable
devices but asked Sayer, on a practical
level, how will that work? "One problem
with interoperability is, what if something
goes wrong? If there is a chain of product
suppliers even up to the phones where
apps are hosted. Somewhere in all that will
be a need for legal agreements. Ultimately
someone has to be responsible. We want
to get there, but it's not easy."
Getting connected
In our meeting I stated that Dexcom
seems to be on a roll, with no signs of
stopping as uptake of its CGM sensors
grows. I asked, what does Sayer see as
the opportunities for interoperability? He
confirmed, "Our sales have doubled in
the last two years which is a big jump.
People rely on our sensors for their health
and well-being. What we've done is bring
data to the fore, making it accessible for
users to see on apps, smartphones and
smart watches. If other devices are doing
a similar thing, such as the soon-to-beavailable connected insulin pens, then the
user can get data on insulin delivery that
goes into an app. Data going into an app
from a CGM then can take into account
such as 'insulin on board'. Then both
sets of data can go up to the Cloud so
that GPs other healthcare professionals,
partners, parents or carers can see it if
wished."
Connected pens have been the
'missing link' for many years as the insulin
suppliers are relatively speaking slow to
change. The best that the roughly 80%
continued over