Diabetech To Transform Global Diabetes Care In 2007 With Launch Of GlucoMON2 Wireless Glucose Meter

Since the landmark Diabetes Control & Complications Trial (DCCT) in the early 90's we've all known that average blood sugar levels and tight glycemic control are improved through frequent blood glucose testing and team management with a knowledgeable remote caregiver.

Unfortunately, today's blood glucose meters lack the connectivity to facilitate this remote teaming interaction. The result is millions of people left to manage their diabetes in isolation, especially the newly diagnosed. Even with all of the increased sales of diabetes testing supplies, blood sugar control and physician adherence to established standards of care worldwide remain unacceptable by every diabetes organization worldwide including the American Diabetes Association, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, American Association of Diabetes Educators and the International Diabetes Federation.

Direct costs of diabetes care in the USA have more than doubled in recent years, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. "Without any practical means of enjoying the benefits of team management, costs from the current paradigm of test and forget self-care will bankrupt our global economy," says Kevin McMahon, President & CEO of Diabetech. Clinical inefficiencies also stem from this lack of connectivity further driving up costs. Even the recently introduced continuous glucose monitoring devices are not capable of supporting communication with knowledgeable remote caregivers.

Diabetech offers a better answer to patients and the healthcare industry when it comes to an effective model for diabetes care including control for spiralling costs. Diabetech's GlucoMON blood glucose connectivity device ensures glucose meter accuracy and automates the collection and analysis of blood glucose data for use in the team management of diabetes. People typically report drops in their average blood glucose (haemoglobin A1c) levels from 10% - 30% when they use a GlucoMON and even more in some cases.

Advanced technology simplifying the process is the key. As Stephen Ponder, MD CDE and Diabetech's Chief Medical Officer likes to say, 'Diabetech makes improvements to self-care and remote patient interventions ridiculously easy'. Representatives from health plans, self-insured employers and individual participants and their families involved in our various Institutional Review Board approved research trials have been providing feedback culminating in support for the development of a new commercial version of the GlucoMON upgraded for the global market. Based on interim clinical trial results from GlucoMON-enabled intervention programs, payers are already acknowledging a clear path to their Return On Investment (ROI); a pivotal metric that has been difficult for generalist disease management firms to demonstrate.GlucoMON2 is approximately 80% smaller than the previous GlucoMON making it the smallest and lightest GlucoMON ever.

GlucoMON2 also makes the world's easiest way to share blood glucose levels even easier with even more automation designed into the device itself. GlucoMON2 availability is planned for Q3 '2007 and is capable of operating anywhere in the world where there is support for GSM/GPRS networks. The bundled device, airtime and service will be available through payer-sponsored and direct- to-consumer programs. Not only is GlucoMON2 more advanced; it's also more personalized with a variety of designer colors available based on local preferences. Companies interested in distribution and/or establishing programs leveraging GlucoMON2 should contact Diabetech immediately for more information.

Previous generation GlucoMONs have generated over 70 patient-years of device usability and safety data. The original GlucoMON broke new ground in December of 2002 supporting the first end-to-end wireless diabetes management system in the world connecting patients and their extended care teams in real-time.

To this day, Diabetech remains the only provider anywhere offering a comprehensive solution encompassing the glucose meter, supplies, long-range wireless management device, wireless network transport, remote control, stored patient records and active informatics including trend identification and feedback - all under one roof.Our current GlucoMON supports LifeScan®'s Ultra® glucose meter across many clinical trials throughout North America and will continue in its role as a research device.

Prior to the launch of the Ultra®2, Diabetech had been evaluating usability of newer glucose meters as candidates for GlucoMON2 integration. We arrived at our decision to support the Ultra2 as the first glucose meter integration to our GlucoMON2 mobile telemetry platform due to its broad patient adoption, unsurpassed quality and the fact that its OneTouch® blood glucose test strips are the most widely reimbursed strip on the market.

Likewise, we selected GSM/GPRS as our wireless network backbone due to its broad global footprint and support for high speed data applications in our fourth generation wireless data, voice and video dedicated medical handhelds targeting availability in 2008.