A new study published today in Annals of Internal Medicine and sponsored by Dexcom shows that a continuous glucose monitor could lower the HbA1c scores of people with Type 2 diabetes, and that acceptance of the technology is high among that group as well.

Right now, continuous glucose monitoring is a technology mostly used by people with Type 1 diabetes, many of whom administer insulin via an automated pump. But people with Type 1 diabetes make up just 5 to 10 percent of people with diabetes in the US, according to the CDC. The others have Type 2 diabetes and often administer insulin via multiple daily injections (MDI).

“We have been successful in driving innovation and adoption of CGM in the Type 1 diabetes community, but this arm of the DIaMonD study is one of the first to examine how well CGM works for people with Type 2 diabetes on MDI,” Kevin Sayer, president and CEO of Dexcom, said in a statement. “We are pleased to see a significant A1C reduction in this study, showing that the millions of people globally with Type 2 diabetes on MDI insulin therapy can benefit from CGM use.”

On its earnings calls to investors, Sayer has made no secret about Dexcom’s aspirations to widen its total addressable market by eventually marketing its CGMs to people with Type 2 diabetes. This study is the first step in clinically validating that approach.

The study was randomized among 158 participants across 25 sites. A control group used only a fingerprick glucometer from Bayer while the experiment group used a Dexcom G4 CGM as well.

CGM users saw a modest but statistically significant decrease in HbA1C levels at 24 weeks, the primary outcome of the study: From an average of 8.5 percent at the start of the study, the control group decreased that average to 8 percent, while the CGM group decreased to 7.7 percent, a 0.8 percentage point A1C reduction compared to baseline. In patients with above average A1C levels at baseline, the effect was more pronounced, with that group showing an average 1.1 percent reduction. The CGM group also reported increased time in range.

Furthermore, CGM users were adherent to the device (93 percent were still using it regularly at week 24) and overwhelmingly rated the benefits of the technology as high and the hassles as low.

“CGM use was associated with a high degree of patient satisfaction, a reduction in hyperglycemia and consequently HbA1c, and an increase in time in glucose range,” researchers conclude in the paper. “Since few insulin-treated patients with type 2 diabetes currently are prescribed CGM, the study results indicate an additional management modality that may be beneficial for these patients.”