Abbott and Tandem Diabetes Care have finalized long-running plans to combine and integrate their respective continuous glucose monitors and digital insulin delivery systems.
Through a partnership first announced in oktober 2019, the new agreement sets a path for the project’s future technical development as well as cooperation between the two companies in commercialization and marketing activities.
Tandem’s t:slim X2 helped establish a new category of interoperable diabetes devices known as an alternate controller enabled, or ACE, infusion pumps, with its FDA-goedkeuring in February of last year. The plug-and-play insulin pump is designed to work with a range of compatible dosing systems, glucose monitors and blood sugar meters.
And earlier this month, Abbott received an FDA greenlight for the next generation of its mainstay CGM wearable, the FreeStyle Libre. The new version was cleared for adults and children over the age of 4 and can log a person’s blood sugar levels every minute for two weeks.
The goal of the collaboration will be to deliver digitally connected and automated insulin delivery systems, while allowing users to tailor the devices to their personal needs. The project will focus first in the U.S. and Canada before expanding to additional countries.
“Abbott is working with our partners to bring integrated technologies at an affordable price for people with diabetes who rely on using insulin pumps,” zei Jared Watkin, Abbott’s senior vice president of diabetes care. “By combining our glucose sensing technology with Tandem’s proven insulin delivery systems, we will be able to create a cohesive ecosystem for people with diabetes that can fit easily into their daily lives.”
Additionally, the t:slim X2 is capable of remote software updates that could add future compatibility and interoperability features to in-warranty devices, without requiring users to purchase a new insulin pump, according to Tandem’s president and CEO, John Sheridan.
