16GETTING
CONNECTED
Connected insulin pens, and pen caps that track doses are all
the rage these days.
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
revolutionised 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 from glass-andmetal
ones a few 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 remembering 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. Read on for 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, which focuses on
managing connectivity and
compliance for regulated digital
health devices. The company should
have been bringing out the devices,
dubbed the NovoPen 6 and
NovoPen Echo Plus, worldwide,
during 2020, though no specific date
has been set yet for the UK.
Digital health solutions can enable
people with diabetes to gain better
control by connecting insulin pens
to apps on smartphones and other
diabetes management platforms.
Hence, in addition to announcing
the intention to launch these new
products, Novo Nordisk has also
confirmed that it will have
non-exclusive technology
partnerships with Dexcom, Glooko
as well as Roche to allow those
companies' apps to be used with the
new connected insulin pens. It
already has an existing relationship
with IBM Watson Health. Later the
company intends to add
connectivity to its disposable pens.
N
MORE CONNECTIVITY
Elsewhere Companion Medical is
backed by another insulin maker, Eli
Lilly. Companion Medical's InPen
device has been available in the US
for a few years, while Sanofi,
another global insulin producer,
is also focusing on innovative
solutions for integrated care and is
looking at digital solutions for
insulin delivery. Sanofi's digital
titration* solutions involve a blood
glucose meter (MyStar DoseCoach)
and a smartphone app (My Dose
Coach), as well as another
smartphone application called
Insulia. Pilot programmes are
looking at dose adjustments via
digital engagement solutions.