Pharma giant Eli Lilly has inked a series of deals with four diabetes management companies to integrate with its forthcoming Tempo Pen and Tempo Smart Button products.

The companies that signed strategic international agreements with Eli Lilly are Dexcom, Glooko, myDiabby Healthcare and Roche.

Through the agreements, Eli Lilly’s Tempo Pen and connected Tempo Smart Button will integrate with the software platforms and/or medical devices offered by the diabetes management companies to allow for the collection and sharing of personal health data.

"We're pleased to work alongside these innovative partners who share our commitment to improving diabetes outcomes by bringing together medicine and digital solutions for the global diabetes community," Marie Schiller, vice president of product development for Connected Care and Insulins at Eli Lilly, said in a statement.

The Tempo Pen is a modified version of Eli Lilly’s existing prefilled, disposable insulin pen that attaches to the Tempo Smart Button. The company hopes to receive a CE mark for the smart button later this year and will release both products “in several international markets” following certification, according to the announcement.

WHY THIS MATTERS

More than 34 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, according to the CDC.

Diabetes can be kept under control with proper management, but without it the disease can lead to hospitalization, kidney disease and death. In fact, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2017, according to the CDC.

These deals will allow future users of the Eli Lilly Tempo line of products to connect with some of the leading platforms and devices in the diabetes management space, including Dexcom’s continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, Glooko’s digital platform, MyDiabby Healthcare’s French diabetes management platform and Roche’s mySugr app.

"Insulin dose logging is often an incomplete piece of the diabetes management puzzle for people who use insulin pens and manually track their doses,” Schiller said.

“By integrating data from the connected insulin pen solutions into widely used compatible software, including potential future collaborations, we aim to support improved decision-making for people with diabetes and their healthcare providers with accurate, real-time data collection. These solutions may also help address psychological barriers like fear of hypoglycemia that may negatively impact diabetes management."

THE LARGER TREND

For Roche, this deal follows its deal with Novo Nordisk to connect mySugr's Logbook with the NovoPen 6 and NovoPen Echo Plus. The company made another agreement earlier in the year to integrate Roche’s Accu-Chek Insights insulin pump with the Diabeloop monitoring system.

Glooko closed a $30 million Series D funding round this year to boost the adoption of its remote monitoring platform, broaden the commercialization of its products in clinical research and push into new therapeutic areas.

As for Dexcom, the company started the year off by launching an investment arm called Dexcom Ventures. More recently, it shared financial results from the first quarter of 2021. Despite reporting a 25% increase in worldwide revenue, Dexcom’s stock has been tumbling since then and is now selling for $351 compared to $425 at the end of April.