Abbott and Medtronic are typically regarded as competitors, but the two medical device giants have recently decided to join forces.
Last week, the two companies teamed up to collaborate on a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system that combines Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre technology with Medtronic’s automated insulin delivery system. The device will be developed by Abbott and sold by Medtronic.
This new integrated CGM sensor will be based on Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre 3 device, which is designed to measure a patient’s glucose levels as they go about their daily life. By adding Medtronic’s automated insulin delivery technology, the system will be able to automatically adjust insulin doses to keep the user’s glucose in range.
Medtronic’s latest insulin pump, the MiniMed 780G system, can automatically adjust and correct type 1 diabetes patients’ glucose levels every five minutes.
Integrating Abbott’s glucose monitoring technology with Medtronic’s automated insulin delivery system can make a big difference in diabetes patients’ lives because it takes the guesswork and worry out of insulin dosing, explained Mahmood Kazemi, chief medical officer of Abbott Diabetes Care, in an email.
In his view, automated insulin delivery systems improve patients’ health outcomes while reducing the burden of constant decision-making.
“This is a win for people with diabetes, offering them more choices in how they manage their condition. Connecting the tools that people with diabetes use makes it easier for them to manage their condition, which is the main reason we’re working to make FreeStyle Libre the most connected CGM in the world,” Kazemi wrote.
With this latest announcement, Abbott is now partnered with four of the largest insulin pump companies: Medtronic, Insulet, Tandem and Ypsomed/CamDiab.
Que Dallara, executive vice president and president of Medtronic Diabetes, said in a statement that his company’s partnership with Abbott will allow it to expand access to its automated insulin delivery system, given that Abbott has the most popular CGM device on the market. Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre products have more than six million users.
Abbott said it is not yet providing information on when the new sensor will be commercially available.
Photo: oatawa, Getty Images
