Regulators in India approved a glucose monitoring system made by Abbott (NYSE:ABT) that’s designed to track patients’ blood sugar levels for up to 2 weeks.
Abbott said India is the 1st country to approve the FreeStyle Libre Pro Flash professional-use device, which uses a patient-worn sensor to track blood glucose levels for up to 14 days. The sensor is applied by a healthcare provider to the back of the upper arm, measuring glucose levels every 15 minutes in interstitial fluid via a small filament inserted just under the skin, the Abbott Park, Ill.-based company said.
Data from the FreeStyle Libre Pro Flash can be wirelessly downloaded at the provider’s office in about 5 seconds,. Abbott said. The system is the 2nd in Abbott’s Flash glucose monitoring line, following a personal-use version called FreeStyle Libre that launched in Europe last fall.
The FreeStyle Libre Pro system is slated to launch in 6 Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Trivandrum "in the coming weeks," Abbott said.
Abbott diabetes care senior vice president Robert Ford said India carries 20% of the global burden of diabetes, citing the "immense need" there for better management tools for patients.
"Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre Pro system is designed to empower doctors in India to help their patients through rich data and actionable insights," Ford said in prepared remarks.
"Current systems for continuous measurement of glucose are cumbersome and require regular finger-pricking to ensure they are calibrated correctly for accuracy," added technical operations division vice president Jared Watkin. "Based on insights from our customers, the focus for our design team has been to innovate for these challenges, while also providing affordability. We’re proud that FreeStyle Libre Pro system achieves that for people with diabetes."
