The two companies also inked a commercial licensing deal for Bayer to use One Drop’s platform in Bayer’s worldwide bio-digital efforts in oncology, cardiovascular disease and women’s health.
New York-based One Drop, a company focused on digital solutions for managing diabetes and other diseases, closed on a $40 million Series B financing led by Bayer. The two companies also inked a commercial licensing deal for Bayer to use One Drop’s platform in Bayer’s worldwide bio-digital efforts in oncology, cardiovascular disease and women’s health.
One Drop’s artificial intelligence-powered platform is recognized by the American Diabetes Association. Via the licensing deal, Bayer will use One Drop’s data science and predictive capabilities and leverage its mobile platform. Also as part of the deal, Stefan Oelrich, president of Bayer Pharmaceuticals, joins One Drop’s board of directors.
“With today’s global digital infrastructure, there should be nothing that prevents us from delivering quality care to everyone who needs it,” said Jeff Dachis, One Drop founder and chief executive officer. “One Drop is leveraging this infrastructure to provide evidence-based, hyper-personalized diabetes support to millions of people each day. As a new investors and commercial partner, Bayer is validating One Drop’s Superior user experience, modular and extensible product offering, and ability to bring affordable, accessible healthcare to millions of people worldwide.”
The One Drop app supports HealthKit, CareKit, Health Records, and Siri Shortcuts on the iPhone, and Google Fit on Android. It also integrates directly with Fitbit and Dexcom on both iPhone and Android platforms.
“As part of our strategy to shape the future of healthcare and build new businesses in digital health, we are investing in integrated digital solutions to improve health outcomes through data driven solutions,” said Bayer’s Oelrich. “This collaboration allows us to obtain access to a world leading self-care platform for disease management beyond the boundaries of medicines with strong artificial intelligence-driven capabilities that could lead to better healthcare outcomes for people with chronic conditions.”
This is the third big story this week about biopharma teaming with companies offering digital solutions for diabetes.
Medical device maker Medtronic and Novo Nordisk entered a collaboration pact to develop ways of integrating insulin dosing management data from future Novo Nordisk smart insulin pens into Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) devices from Medtronic.
Novo Nordisk plans to launch the NovoPen 6 and NovoPen Echo, durable smart insulin pens, along with disposable, pre-filled injection solutions, in 2020. These smart insulin pens will be compatible with both Android and iOS devices. The collaboration, which is non-exclusive, will allow them to be compatible with Medtronic CGM, such as the Guardian Connect system.
In addition to being able to better track and manage blood glucose levels, healthcare professionals and caregivers, with permission from the patient, can automatically track glucose monitoring and insulin dosing data in a single location. This should be one less thing for diabetic patients to manage, while helping healthcare professionals better work with the patients on managing blood sugar levels and increase Time in Range (TIR), which is the amount of time diabetics spend in the optimal glycemic range of 70 to 180 mg/dL.
And Sanofi and Abbott partnered to integrate Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre mobile app and cloud software with Sanofi’s connected insulin pens, apps and cloud software that are in development. Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre reads glucose levels through a sensor worn on the back of the upper arm, which eliminates the need for fingersticks. The app lets users capture and review real-time glucose levels, an eight-hour glucose history, and how their blood sugar levels are changing, all on a smartphone. LibreView is a secure cloud-based diabetes management system that allows caregivers and healthcare professionals reports from the system.
“As the global leader in continuous glucose monitoring, we see a significant opportunity to impact the health of millions of people living with diabetes by developing new tools and connectivity with Sanofi, a leader in the insulin space,” stated Jared Watkin, senior vice president, Diabetes Care, Abbott. “Diabetes can be overwhelming as it is an information-rich condition with various streams of data from multiple devices. Building a digital ecosystem around FreeStyle Libre simplifies the user experience by consolidating how people get their data—both through offering Abbott’s digital health tools and by working with other diabetes and technology leaders.”
