Diabetes is a major health problem, affecting 425 million people globally, a figure projected to rise to more than 629 million by 2045, according to the International Diabetes Federation. Given this substantial and increasing burden, both on an individual and societal level, new innovative ways to manage this condition are urgently required to meet this need and in turn reduce the growing strain on healthcare systems and the burden on patients.
For the most part, diabetes has been well served by the healthcare industry with many new innovations in recent years. Better treatments are being discovered that can improve patient outcomes and new technologies are helping people with diabetes manage their diabetes better and lead lives that are less impacted by this chronic condition.
One area of growing interest for innovation in diabetes is digital and mobile technology, with our own market research showing an estimated 71 percent of people with diabetes owning a smartphone. Patients are also changing by becoming more engaged in their treatment and empowered to self-manage. They are now seeing digital health solutions as an effective way to monitor and track their disease, and are more open to using digital solutions to manage diabetes. There are effective digital technologies in the market today that can help patients capture their data more easily and send it on to healthcare professionals, calculate treatment doses, and provide coaching or online communities for support and encouragement.
Overall, the use and uptake of digital and mobile technology in diabetes to date has been reasonable, but it is growing. In 2015, 9.3 million people worldwide were estimated to be using digital diabetes solutions and this is expected to reach 13.7 million by 2020, according to a report by Statista. These solutions can also be effective, with our market research also showing that of those patients using a health or wellness app to manage their diabetes, 52% had changed their behavior as a result. However, there remains significant potential to improve these outcomes through further innovation and new digital solutions.
The development of new innovations in healthcare is now going beyond the traditional R&D model. R&D is being supplemented with other ways to find new ideas, such as partnerships, collaborations and crowdsourcing. To help uncover the next innovation in digital health for type 2 diabetes, Ascensia Diabetes Care has recently launched the Ascensia Diabetes Challenge, a global innovation competition. The aim of the challenge is to support startups and entrepreneurs who have exciting new solutions for managing type 2 diabetes and help them to bring these to market.
Ascensia is specifically seeking submissions focused on type 2 diabetes, as there is lots of room here for innovation. Many of the latest technological advances have been targeted towards type 1 diabetes, but there are also opportunities to rethink how digital technology can make it easier for people with type 2 diabetes to manage their day-to-day lives.
Ascensia has committed a total prize fund of about $240,000 for this challenge and is offering the opportunity to partner with the winners. The challenge has a judging panel of independent experts from diabetes and digital health, alongside members of the Ascensia team.
One of the challenge judges, Dr. Sidney Yee, has explained this approach to finding innovation perfectly. “Transformational innovations that are able to impact the patient journey will change clinical practice and disrupt the status quo. These innovations need funding and support to develop them into viable solutions.”
The competition is now open for entries from across the world and submissions will close on Feb. 23, 2018. For further information or to enter, visit ascensiadiabeteschallenge.com.
About the Author:
Sally Fairbrother, Global Brand Leader – Connected Solutions/Digital Health, Ascensia Diabetes Care
