Roche is adding a new module to its mySugar app, called mySugar Pump Control, that lets users control their Accu-Chek Insight insulin pump virtually.

Patients using the new tool are able to import data, view status and remotely deliver a standard bolus. Additionally, users can tap into the mySugar Bolus Calculator, which assists users in calculating the level of insulin needed for a meal and correction boluses.

The company will start rolling out the technology is Austria and is expected to soon roll out in the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Italy and the U.K.

WHY IT MATTERS

According to the World Health Organization, 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, which contributes to 1.6 million deaths each year. Diabetes can be managed, and today many innovators are looking to help tackle the disease burden with technology.

“When talking to people with diabetes, you realise that there is a real wish to carry as few therapy devices as possible, and that those devices should be as unobtrusive as possible,” Adham Kassab, International Business Leader at mySugr, said in a statement.

“Controlling an insulin pump and viewing its status via smartphone allows people with diabetes to use a device which is usually close at hand. Using the mySugr Pump Control provides people with diabetes more discretion and simplicity with their everyday insulin pump therapy.”

THE LARGER TREND

In 2017 pharma giant Roche purchased diabetes management app mySugar. Roche has made a slew of deals to integrate the app into different technologies. For example, in April it announced that mySugar's Logbook is now integrated with NovoNordisk's connected insulin pens.

In September, Roche announced that it was adding a new remote patient-monitoring tool to its Diabetes Care Platform.

This isn't the first time that the company has looked into remote insulin dosing. In March the company inked a deal with automated insulin delivery system Diabeloop. Users will be able to integrate Roche’s Accu-Chek Insights insulin pump with the Diabeloop monitoring system. 

This integration would result in a hybrid closed-loop system – a system designed to take the pressure off the patient to dose glucose, instead relying on an algorithm.