mySugr Importer (English) from mySugr on Vimeo.
mySugr is a diabetes app developer that’s striving to set itself apart from other direct-to-consumer mobile health companies for chronic conditions. Its apps are intended to strike a balance between relevant and important information for its users with colorful graphics and a gaming component. With a $4.8 million fundraise earlier this year, the company wants to expand its app portfolio with a calculator to determine how much insulin they need and creating an app version of a Web-based education program.
Market Trends to Watch for Health Systems and Their Specialty Pharmacies
The future looks bright for the integrated specialty pharmacy model – for health systems, providers, and most importantly, for patients.
So far the Austria-based company has amassed 253,000 subscribers for its apps with its largest market, predictably, the U.S.
In an interview with mySugr co-founder and CEO Frank Westermann, he said the company came about when he and one of the four co-founders talked about how to improve their Type 1 diabetes therapies. “I was a consultant and was traveling around a lot in 2011. At the time, there were so many apps coming out for the iPhone” but nothing that resonated with him. “I thought there must be a way to use that to manage my condition more effectively.”
Its Logbook app guides users to enter relevant information on meals, exercise, glucose levels and mood. They are prompted to use a camera phone to take pictures of snacks. It uses “a diabetes monster” avatar to alert users when they make poor food choices based on their glucose levels. It also lets users print or email their log to their physician so they can check out their health between appointments.
Westermann said the company was surprised that so many of its customers in the 25-55 age range liked the monster and it played only a small role in the first version of the app. But he reasoned that it offers a little comic relief for what can be a challenging condition to manage. “The graphic elements of the apps drive engagement.”
The Funding Model for Cancer Innovation is Broken — We Can Fix It
Closing cancer health equity gaps require medical breakthroughs made possible by new funding approaches.
It has also rolled out an educational module for the Web which takes a multimedia approach to improve diabetes patients’ understanding of their condition and how to manage it. So far it’s only reimbursed by insurers in Austria. For US-based customers, it charges a monthly subscription rate of $2.99 per month. It expects Apple to approve an app version of the program to roll out in the U.S. next week for iOS network devices.
Outside of the U.S., it has partnered with medical device manufacturers Medtronic and Abbott for an app to capture and record glucometer readings with a smartphone camera and optical character recognition software. It is interested in getting clearance for mySugr Importer in the U.S. and is in talks with US-based device manufacturers. Also on its agenda is a Bolus calculator app — designed to help patients determine the right insulin dosage based on their carbohydrate consumption. It plans to introduce the app in the European market first before submitting it to the FDA for approval in the Fall.
Asked what the biggest difference is between the diabetes patient populations in the American and European markets, Westermann notes that American tend to be much more open to talking about their condition. “It’s much more a topic of popular discussion in the U.S. In Europe, the prevalence is lower (although about 10 percent of Germany’s population has it). But people are not as open to discussing it. That can make it tougher to manage.