Glooko, a Mountain View, California-based remote monitoring platform for diabetes, has partnered with Ascensia, a business unit created last year when Panasonic Healthcare Holdings acquired Bayer Diabetes Care. Ascensia makes the Contour Next One and Contour Next Link, a pair of connected glucometers that received FDA clearance last year. Another device, Contour Plus One, is not yet FDA-cleared but is sold in other countries.

Glooko Product Analytics and Marketing Manager Vikram Singh told MobiHealthNews in an email that, while Glooko has integrated with Ascensia products for years (back when it was Bayer Diabetes Care), the announcement represents "a deeper 'app to app' and 'cloud to cloud' integration" and that the partnership will also likely lead to joint commercial activities in the future.

For now, the integration will allow Glooko products to access data blood glucose data to be accessed directly by Contour Next One and Contour Plus One. People with diabetes will be able to view their data both in Glooko's mobile and web apps, and in the Contour Diabetes App from Ascensia. The integration also benefits healthcare providers, who can integrate Ascensia devices and Glooko's clinician-facing dashboard into a cohesive workflow.

"Glooko's Diabetes Data Management Platform has become widely used for both personal and clinical diabetes data analytics and decision support," Michael Kloss, CEO of Ascensia Diabetes Care, said in a statement. "Glooko's broad distribution into health systems will enable us to easily and seamlessly deliver highly accurate data from our Contour Next One and Contour Plus One blood glucose monitoring systems to clinicians right in their workflow. By linking our systems to Glooko's Diabetes Data Management Platform, we want to enable better understanding and analysis of diabetes data, and ultimately help to improve the lives of people with diabetes."

Glooko, which began its corporate life making physical dongles to connect different glucometers to smartphones, has always engaged in a number of partnerships. Last year the company merged with Sweden-based Diasend to expand its global footprint. Just this month Glooko announced a major partnership with Novo Nordisk.

"The usability and accuracy of the Contour Next One and Contour Plus One blood glucose monitoring systems from Ascensia Diabetes Care is impressive and we are excited to bring this rich data into the Glooko platform to help both people with diabetes and their health care professionals manage this condition," said Rick Altinger, Glooko CEO.