Abbott and Novo Nordisk today announced a non-exclusive partnership that will integrate insulin dose data from Novo Nordisk pre-filled and durable connected pens directly into the digital health tools compatible with the FreeStyle Libre system (FreeStyle LibreLink[1] mobile app and LibreView[2] cloud-based system). The partnership reflects both companies' commitment to make diabetes management easier by connecting key technologies such as continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and connected insulin pens.
Integrating these two products will enable healthcare professionals, caregivers and people with diabetes to view glucose and insulin data together to help them make more informed treatment decisions and to have a more meaningful and productive conversation about health outcomes.
"Lack of reliable information is a cause of huge frustration for many people with diabetes and their doctors," said Anders Dyhr Toft, corporate vice president, Commercial Innovation, Novo Nordisk. "Together with partners like Abbott, our connected pens will give healthcare professionals a better understanding of a patient's individual diabetes management and can help people with diabetes feel more confident in their treatment."
"It is our aim at Abbott to continuously provide life-changing technology to people living with diabetes," said Jared Watkin, senior vice president, Diabetes Care, Abbott. "Diabetes is a time-intensive condition to manage. People with diabetes must make a variety of decisions every single day about their glucose monitoring, nutrition, insulin and medication intake. By enabling insulin dosing data from Novo Nordisk's connected pens to be shared with our digital health tools, we'll be able to help further eliminate those daily hassles for people, so they have more time to live a fuller, healthier life."
Abbott and Novo Nordisk are working hard to bring these integrated solutions to patients as soon as possible.
About the FreeStyle Libre portfolio of products
Abbott's FreeStyle Libre system reads glucose levels through a sensor that can be worn on the back of the upper arm eliminating the need for routine finger pricks[3]. Abbott's FreeStyle LibreLink app enables users to capture and view their real-time glucose levels, their eight-hour glucose history, and how their glucose is currently changing on their smartphone. LibreView is a secure cloud-based diabetes management system that gives people with diabetes and healthcare professionals clear, easy-to-understand reports from major glucose monitoring devices - including the FreeStyle Libre system.
About Abbott
Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. The portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. The 103,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.
About Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with more than 95 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. This heritage has given us experience and capabilities that also enable us to help people defeat obesity, haemophilia, growth disorders and other serious chronic diseases. Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk employs approximately 43,200 people in 80 countries and markets its products in more than 170 countries.
1. The FreeStyle LibreLink app is compatible with NFC enabled phones on Apple's iPhone 7 and later, running iOS 11 and later
2. LibreView data, a product of NewYu, can be viewed in the Safari Browser on Mac OS X Mountain Lion or higher computers and on iOS 6 or later mobile devices. Currently, uploading of glucose data is only supported on Windows-based computers. Minimum system requirements are Windows Vista with IE10 or the latest versions of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, running on a 550MHz Pentium III, 512MB DRAM, 2G Hard Drive, USB 2.0, LCD Screen with resolution of 1024x768
3. Fingersticks using blood glucose meter are required for treatment decisions when you see Check Blood Glucose symbol, when symptoms do not match system readings, when you suspect readings may be inaccurate, or when you experience symptoms that may be due to high or low blood glucose.