Abbott brings Freestyle Libre Pro System for glucose monitoring to India

The prevalence of type II diabetes is increasing in young adults in Asia, according to research from the Asia Diabetes Foundation (ADF). The ADF has funded research* together with Merck showing that 18% of the people recruited into its Joint Asia Diabetes Evaluation (JADE) study from nine Asian countries and territories were under the age of 40 when they were diagnosed with diabetes, a condition called young-onset diabetes.

While Merck offers a drug called Janumet XR to address type II diabetes, Abbott is tackling the treatment of the disease with a wearable that offers doctors more insights into patients' blood glucose levels over the long term.

Source: Abbott website. The FreeStyle Libre System at work. The FreeStyle Libre Pro System is designed to be used by healthcare professionals, rather than by patients themselves.

"India now carries 20% of the global burden of diabetes," said Robert Ford, Senior VP, Diabetes Care, Abbott. "There is an immense need for people in India to better manage their diabetes, enabling them to live healthier lives. Abbott's FreeStyle Libre Pro System is designed to empower doctors in India to help their patients through rich data and actionable insights."

The FreeStyle Libre Pro Flash Glucose Monitoring System consists of a small, round sensor—slightly larger than a 10 rupee coin (the size of a US quarter). A healthcare professional applies the sensor on the back of the patient's upper arm. The sensor is held in place with a self-adhesive pad and remains on the back of the arm for up to 14 days, requiring no patient interaction.

When applied to the skin, the sensor continuously measures glucose in interstitial fluid through a small (5mm long, 0.4mm wide) filament that is inserted just under the skin. It records glucose levels every 15 minutes, capturing up to 1,340 glucose results over 14 days, giving doctors comprehensive data for a complete glycemic profile of their patients. After 14 days, the person returns to the doctor's office, where the doctor uses a FreeStyle Libre Pro reader device to download the glucose results that are stored in the sensor in as quickly as five seconds.

"Diabetes is already at epidemic proportions and there is an urgent need to manage it better," said Dr V Mohan, Director and Chief of Diabetes Research at Madras Diabetes Research Foundation. "Current diabetes monitoring tools are limiting for doctors because they don't reveal a complete picture of the glucose variability that a person goes through during a day. The revolutionary flash glucose monitoring system will be very useful for doctors in getting complete glucose profiles of their patients. This will help us in our clinical decision making as well as in personalising treatment plans for better outcomes."

"Current systems for continuous measurement of glucose are cumbersome and require regular finger-pricking to ensure they are calibrated correctly for accuracy," said Jared Watkin, Divisional VP, Technical Operations, Diabetes Care, Abbott. "Based on insights from our customers, the focus for our design team has been to innovate for these challenges, while also providing affordability. We're proud that FreeStyle Libre Pro System achieves that for people with diabetes."

Abbott's FreeStyle Libre Pro system will be available to doctors in coming weeks in six Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Trivandrum.

According to the International Diabetes Federation, India today has a diabetes population of 65.1 million compared to 50.8 million in 2010**. A recent survey conducted by the Association of Physicians of India (API) and sponsored by Abbott*** showed that 90% of people surveyed with uncontrolled diabetes in India, defined as HbA1c levels higher than 7%, continue to believe that they have control over their glucose levels, despite facts suggesting otherwise. 

The Diabetic Society of Singapore has estimated that over 400,000 people or 11.3% of the population suffer from diabetes, while Singapore's Khoo Teck Puat Hospital has found that two-thirds of its diabetes patients under 30 have the type II form. 

*Metabolic profiles and treatment gaps in young-onset type 2 diabetes in Asia (the JADE programme): a cross-sectional study of a prospective cohort, The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, e-publication July 2014, print publication December 2014.

**http://www.idf.org/BRIDGES/map/india

***The Abbott Sugar Survey, February 2015

Environmentally friendly GROHE smart water system growing in popularity in Asia

Source: GROHE. The GROHE Blue system in action.

The GROHE Blue smart water system has seen significant takeup in Asia since a May 2014 study* which found that its carbon footprint is smaller than that of bottled mineral water. 

Estimated greenhouse gas emissions were 17.96 g CO2-eq/litre for the GROHE Blue system against emissions of 70 to 600 g CO2-eq/litre for bottled mineral water, depending on the type of packaging and the place of origin. The values achieved by GROHE Blue are also lower than those of conventional water dispensers, which range from about 35 to 50 g CO2-eq/litre. This means that GROHE Blue allows users to save greenhouse gas emissions of at least 25 to 50% over other alternatives. 

The system supplies filtered and chilled water in three different variants - sparkling, medium and still - directly from the same custom kitchen faucet, allowing different users in an organisation to enjoy their preferred type of water at any time. Unlike typical office potable water arrangements, no bottles have to be filled, transported or recycled in order to obtain the three types of water from a GROHE Blue system, which adds to its environmental friendliness.

Dorit Grueber, GROHE’s Vice President (Marketing), Asia, noted that Asian businesses are becoming more green and are attracted to GROHE Blue especially in matured markets, where their employees are more time-strapped.

There is definitely an increasing trend as consumers become more environmentally conscious," she said, naming Vodafone and Miele as customers of the product. "Since the publication of the study, we’ve seen a significant increase in orders that have been recorded, especially in the B2B sector. The main attraction for GROHE Blue for businesses would be the convenience of getting filtered water straight from the faucet, and an outstanding design which combines pure drinking water and washing water in a single faucet."

*The May 2014 study was carried out by the Production and Logistics Chair of GeorgAugust University in Göttingen in cooperation with Grohe. Between July and November 2013, the scientists of Göttingen University compared the carbon footprint of one litre of water tapped from the GROHE Blue system with the footprint of one litre of bottled water. The scenario was based on the assumption of 30 users per day who drink one litre of bottled water on 220 days of the year over a period of five years. The calculation of the carbon footprint covered all five lifecycles of GROHE Blue and of bottled mineral water, which range from production and transport of the raw materials as well as transport of the finished product to consumption and disposal.