Historically, the medical device world has been a highly proprietary industry, long characterized by the development of specialized, patented technologies that were closely guarded by their developers. You won’t find an app store here that provides developers with APIs to build tools on top of a base technology.
In a surprising development, adversaries are becoming allies in at least one part of the medtech world: diabetes.
This month, medical device giant Abbott announced that it has now partnered with four of the industry’s largest insulin pump manufacturers – Medtronic, Insulet, Tandem Diabetes Care and Ypsomed – to integrate their automated insulin delivery systems into its FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Dexcom, Abbott’s biggest competitor in the CGM space, has also been pursuing similar integrations for the past decade. Its CGMs are compatible with automated insulin delivery systems from Insulet, Tandem and Beta Bionics.
The companies involved in these collaborations are proud to offer consumers more choice and accelerate the pace of innovation in the diabetes space. Consultants and industry experts believe the partnerships are smart moves to remain relevant in the rapidly evolving diabetes space.
And of course, there’s the profit motive. Until this week, automatic insulin delivery systems were only approved to treat type 1 diabetes. The FDA announced Monday that it had approved Insulet’s Omnipod insulin pump as the first automatic delivery system to treat type 2 diabetes. This means that diabetes device makers will soon be able to tap into a new – and much larger – patient segment.
Given this news, partnerships between CGM and insulin pump makers are likely to continue and expand in the future, experts say.
Enemies become friends
Abbott began working with insulin pump manufacturers nearly five years ago, with the first collaborations taking place in 2020 when Abbott announced plans to integrate its FreeStyle Libre technology into Insulet and Tandem’s automated insulin delivery systems for type 1 diabetes patients.
Then in 2022, the company integrated its FreeStyle Libre device into Ypsomed’s automated insulin delivery system. Abbott’s latest collaboration in diabetes devices, the new partnership with Medtronic, was announced less than two weeks ago.
Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre devices feature a small sensor that is applied to the skin, usually on the back of the upper arm. These devices are designed to measure a patient’s blood sugar levels during everyday life and transmit the data to a reader or smartphone app. By adding automatic insulin delivery technology, the system can automatically adjust insulin doses to keep the user’s blood sugar levels within the normal range.
“We hear every day from doctors and people with diabetes that technologies like our FreeStyle Libre system have made managing the disease easier. But continuous glucose monitors are only one piece of the puzzle. This is where the power of partnership comes in. And that’s why we’re working with other companies in the industry to develop new, integrated solutions designed to make diabetes care as easy and accessible as possible,” said Chris Scoggins, senior vice president at Abbott Diabetes Care, in a statement to MedCity News.
Industry partnerships lead to more connected care, greater choice for patients and better health outcomes, which is “a win-win for everyone,” he added.
Abbott’s industry partners seem to view these collaborations in the same way.
Que Dallara, president of Medtronic Diabetes, emphasized that the partnership with Abbott will give her company greater access to its automated insulin delivery system because Abbott has the most popular CGM on the market. Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre products are used by more than six million people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
She added that the collaboration offers diabetics expanded choices and called it “a win-win situation for everyone.”
Another leader in diabetes devices – Eric Benjamin, chief product and customer experience officer at Insulet – said his company wanted to give users of its Omnipod automated insulin delivery system a choice between leading continuous glucose monitors. That’s why Insulet has integrated its system with Abbott and Dexcom glucose monitors – which Tandem has also done.
“This type of collaboration promotes and accelerates innovation for customers and leads to more comprehensive and effective technologies that improve the lives of people with diabetes,” said Benjamin.
Dexcom – the other major player in the world of continuous glucose monitoring – entered into its first automated insulin delivery partnership in 2015 when it teamed up with Insulet, followed by integrations with Tandem and Beta Bionics in the years that followed.
Be one step ahead of the competition
By partnering with automated insulin delivery companies, Abbott and Dexcom are working to cement their status as leading CGM providers and remain major market players in the diabetes space, said Aaron DeGagne, senior healthcare analyst at PitchBook.
“These partnerships will make it easier for patients to access a combination of best-in-class blood glucose meters and insulin pumps and will likely secure additional market share for the leading providers,” he explained.
The fact that medical technology companies are joining forces is further evidence of the increasing consumerism of healthcare, especially in the diabetes space, DeGagne added. Many patients have “strong brand preferences that are driven by the introduction of new features and supported by very effective marketing campaigns,” he explained.
DeGagne said Medtronic’s decision to partner with Abbott this month was likely influenced by Abbott’s existing partnerships with other insulin pump manufacturers. Not participating could have resulted in a loss of market share, he stressed.
“Although Medtronic is unlikely to gain significant share in the CGM space with its own devices, the company is not giving up on the market entirely given the solid growth opportunities in the future,” DeGagne said.
He also noted that these partnerships enable the largest providers to maintain strong distribution and patient access despite competition from next-generation integrated CGM and insulin pump technologies that may come to market in the coming years.
Sean Mehra, CEO of virtual primary care provider HealthTap, echoed DeGagne’s comments.
“This rather unusual alliance of otherwise competing companies reflects the fear of disintermediation of these established players by new models and new entrants in the field who will interact directly with patients and determine what treatment they receive,” Mehra noted.
Large established companies like Abbott and Dexcom are leveraging their trusted brands and established customer bases to “stay ahead of the new competition,” he explained.
To remain competitive going forward, Mehra says these incumbents will need to bring holistic, bundled offerings to market that include things like telemedicine and digital care management tools. That means CGM manufacturers could expand their partnerships even further over the next decade.
“You will see a new ecosystem of partnerships between these medical device and durable medical equipment manufacturers and telemedicine provider groups to build and maintain deeper and more direct relationships with their consumers compared to potential competitors,” he explained.
Improving patient health
The worsening diabetes crisis in the country is another reason why medical technology companies are joining forces to develop joint innovations, says Sheila Shah, managing director and head of digital healthcare at LEK Consulting.
About 1.2 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes each year, and the disease cost the country $413 billion in medical costs and lost wages in 2022.
“I think the reason for these partnerships is probably the awareness that treating diabetes requires a multifaceted approach and that no single device, drug and/or lifestyle choice can be the panacea,” Shah said.
Integrating one company’s glucose monitoring technology with another’s automated insulin delivery system can make diabetes management easier for patients by reducing the burden, guesswork and worry of insulin dosing. This type of collaboration can improve patient health while reducing the burden of constant decisions, Shah noted.
Beth Mosier, director of West Monroe’s healthcare M&A group, agreed with Shah, saying such partnerships aim to make healthcare for people with diabetes more seamless.
“Integrating continuous glucose monitoring with automated insulin delivery and maintenance will allow people to spend less time thinking about their diabetes and more time living their lives. Whether and how these types of partnerships will continue to evolve will depend on how well they can demonstrate impact on key parameters such as adherence to treatment plans and patient health,” Mosier noted.
Thanks to Monday’s FDA decision, diabetes device manufacturers now have the opportunity to improve treatment outcomes in an entirely new patient population by using dual CGM insulin pumps.
Now that the first insulin pump has been approved for use in type 2 diabetes, these partnerships will soon be able to serve a much larger patient base. CDC data shows that 90 to 95 percent of the nation’s 38 million diabetics have type 2 diabetes.
Photo: mediaphotos, Getty Images
