Common Sensing, a Cambridge-based company developing a smart connected insulin pen cap, announced that it will test its device in a clinical trial in collaboration with Joslin Diabetes Center, Sanofi, and Dexcom.
The study of 125 subjects will be conducted by Joslin and funded by Sanofi. Patients will be given a Gocap from Common Sensing, a cap that fits on to a disposable insulin pen and can detect data on when the injector is used and how much insulin is left in it. They will also have a Dexcom CGM.
“In the Joslin study, [our device is] being given out with a CGM,” James White, president and cofounder of Common Sensing, told MobiHealthNews. “So you’ll be able to see someone injecting a dose and, for every minute after that, see how their glucose changes, measured by that CGM. No one’s ever seen that before for disposables, so we’re really excited.”
Gocap can send data about adherence to the patient’s smartphone and allow them to monitor trends, but it can also send that data out to a doctor or health coach, which is where White expects to see most of the value.
“Right now, people go home from the doctor after being given insulin for the first time and they don’t have another touchpoint for three months with anything,” White said. “Their data is theirs, they’re looking at it, but they often don’t know how to interpret it because they weren’t taught at the doctor, and more than half of those people, in those first three months, drop off. They come back and they’re not using it.”
With Gocap, however, the patient’s care team can intervene the moment they don’t take an injection, rather than waiting three weeks.
“So if I’m using an insulin pen and I drop off that first week, someone from the clinic or coaching service that the clinic contracts out, can call me and say ‘Are you having issues?’,” White said. “‘Do you know how to use it? Are you afraid to use it?’ Do you have a problem, maybe you took it and felt really bad? How can we help?’ Whereas now, they have to wait three months for that. They come back and they’re already out of control. They don’t trust anybody anymore. We think devices like this will address that issue.”
Common Sensing, which has been in stealth, has been developing the device for about four years. It’s currently registered with the FDA. The company also has $5 million in funding from investors that include Qualcomm, Sanofi, and Waterline Ventures.
It’s a busy time for the emerging smart insulin pen space, with both Timesulin maker Patients Pending and Irish med tech company Innovation Zed announcing their intentions to develop a similar offering last week.
