Proven in clinical trials to reduce A1c
Telcare Signs Licensing Agreement to Market GlucoDynamix-ADMS™
<0> Telcare, Inc.Jennifer Kuesel, 240-396-6003VP, Marketing </0>
Telcare, Inc., manufacturer of the first FDA-cleared wireless glucose monitoring system, has signed an agreement with Diabetech, LP, to incorporate GlucoDynamix-ADMS, an automated day over day trend monitoring system, into Telcare’s product suite for people with diabetes. A pre-release version of the product may be seen in Telcare’s exhibit at this year’s meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators.
The combination of wireless data collection and automated trend monitoring has been shown in randomized clinical trials to significantly reduce A1c and to significantly increase the proportion of patients who are maintained in good control. This result is achieved without requiring additional effort from highly skilled medical providers.
The landmark study proving effectiveness of this approach towards self-care was published in the March 2012 edition of Diabetes Care by Drs. Tammy Toscos, Stephen Ponder, Barbara Anderson, and co-workers, based on a cohort of 54 children with type 1 diabetes followed over 12 months.
The Telcare implementation of ADMS Trend Monitoring includes automatic wireless transmission of blood glucose data, whereas the previous generation technology used in the Diabetes Care study required that study participants connect their glucose meter to a separate radio module. Unlike other clinical trials leveraging technology and claiming A1c reductions, the Telcare approach demonstrates improved outcomes without requiring additional effort on the part of Diabetes Educators, Physicians, or others. The ADMS system proved its ability to engage patients long term, with almost half of the patients in the treatment group engaging with the system at least once a week for the entire study year. This engagement resulted in an 11% relative reduction in A1c (the gold standard for measuring diabetes control), compared with the control group. Even those patients who were less engaged experienced 5% relative A1c reductions compared to controls.
“Many of us have dreamed of a time when blood glucose data, automatically transformed into actionable feedback to patients, would be shown to make a difference in diabetes control. That time is finally here,” said Dr. Jonathan Javitt, the Johns Hopkins Physician who co-founded Telcare in 2008 and serves as its CEO. “Once wireless health (called mHealth by many) is understood to transform the way we care for patients with chronic illness, old-fashioned unconnected glucose meters will go the way of the urine stick. The same connected philosophy that is starting to drive blood glucose meters today will drive continuous glucose monitors, insulin pumps, and other devices tomorrow.”
In addition to the Diabetes Care report, other randomized controlled trials (pending publication) have confirmed improved blood glucose control in adult and type 2 diabetes populations using the ADMS platform. “It has taken us a decade to prove the basic concept of automated data collection and actionable feedback for simplifying self-care and improving overall blood sugar control,” said Kevin McMahon, co-inventor of the original technology. “For the benefits of ADMS to become a commercial reality, an entire generation of cellular telephone electronics had to be invented. For example, the cellular radio that was the size of a deck of playing cards in 2002 is now the size of a postage stamp and fits inside a glucose meter. Best of all, we figured out how to finally engage patients in Frequent Pattern Management as a regular part of their daily regimen.”
Telcare plans to launch Telcare ADMS Trend Monitoring in Q4 2012, pending FDA notification.
Telcare uses cellular technology and social networking to bridge the last mile between patients with diabetes, their caregivers, and their families in order to transform the care of chronic illness. Telcare’s wireless Blood Glucose Monitoring System has been awarded First Place prizes in the categories of Health, Wellness and Fitness Application and Health Enterprise Solution by CTIA, been named the MEDTEC startup of the year, and been awarded the gold Edison Award for 2012. The Company, based in Bethesda, MD and Concord, MA, is funded by Qualcomm Ventures and private investors.