Glooko, Inc. received an FDA nod for its Android compatible version of its next-generation diabetes management system. According to a company statement, this system is now “the only FDA-cleared mobile diabetes management system that supports the transfer of blood glucose data direct from dozens of compatible glucose meters into many Android devices.”
The cloud-based management system, which allows diabetic patients to plug their glucose meters into their smartphones to automatically update a logbook, has a web-based platform that slices the data from glucose readings, logged meals, exercise and insulin intake so patients and providers can see the problem spots and fix them. Patients can choose to share the web-based info with their providers, to help them manage care.
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According to the company:
Using Glooko’s mobile application, these devices can currently download glucose data from dozens of compatible meters, including but not limited to Roche’s ACCU-CHEK Aviva (Black), Abbott’s FreeStyle Lite, and Lifescan’s OneTouch Ultra2, OneTouch UltraLink and a variety of Nipro meters.
“Really the catalyst starts with all these different meters — so the ability to work with one simple interconnected device that has a lot of intelligence in it. You can liberate the data from meters used by tens of millions of people,” CEO Rick Altinger said. “It’s what patients want. It’s convenient. It’s what patients use to manage their lives.”
He said the system now has upwards of 3,000 patient users.
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But the business model relies on payers and providers. A patient can buy the cord to connect her smartphone to her glucose meter(s) for about $39. Though often it’s hard to get providers to adopt new technology, Altinger said the “spiderweb of cables” they face today point toward a problem for which the Glooko system is an easy fix. “We have a solution that really helps them from a workflow perspective,” he said.
The company already has a partnership with Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute in California, which has a Glooko kiosk, where patients can upload information. The company is currently at work to integrate the system with EHR systems with three provider groups, Altinger said. For early adopting providers, Glooko isn’t charging anything.
They charge payers to pay per patient per month. With access to both Android and iOS smartphone users, that should be a lot more convincing. Because Android users represent 52 percent of the marketshare, “prior to having Android (app), we really couldn’t roll out to full population of patients and … now we can,” Altinger said.
The reason payers will subscribe? Taking the cost out of care, keeping “high risk” patients from needing a trip to the emergency room, for example.
The company was started in late 2010, raised a $3.5 Series A round in 2012 and got an FDA nod for an iOS version of the app in December 2012, Altinger said. In July 2013, they released the cloud-based system. The company is backed by former executives from Apple, Facebook and Cisco. The well-connected Silicon Valley team is pulling together a Series B round, and should be able to announce a “key strategic investor” to its ranks in about a month, Altinger said.
What’s the next innovation for the company now that it has this generation of its system available to most smartphone users? On the hardware side: A Bluetooth version should be out in early 2014.
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