The technology is now available in the U.S. at hellolingo.com, as well as in the United Kingdom.
Lingo features a biosensor and mobile app designed for customers who want to improve their overall health and wellness. The company built Lingo on its FreeStyle Libre CGM technology platform.
Abbott received FDA clearance for Lingo and its Libre Rio over-the-counter (OTC) CGMs in June. The launch highlights the industry’s move beyond prescription CGMs, as Dexcom also launched its own Stelo OTC CGM last week.
(Abbott Diabetes SVP of Commercial Operations Chris Scoggins spoke to Drug Delivery Business News in June and explained the benefits of OTC CGMs. READ HERE)
Lingo, a consumer biowearable, is available for consumers 18 years and older not on insulin. It tracks glucose in real time and provides personal insights and coaching. Abbott designed it to help people build healthy habits, retain their metabolism and improve their overall wellbeing.
“There is a great deal of interest in tracking biomarkers that provide insights into one’s health and wellness that were previously undetectable using the trackers available to consumers,” said Olivier Ropars, divisional VP of Abbott’s Lingo business. “Glucose is a powerful signal of your body’s unique response to food and lifestyle. Abbott’s Lingo tracks your glucose 24/7, translating the data into insights and bridging the gap between traditional healthcare and preventative measures. Lingo empowers individuals to build new healthy habits and take control of their health and wellness.”
More on the benefits of the Abbott Lingo system
According to Abbott, published research demonstrates that limiting glucose spikes and improving glucose management offer a number of health benefits, even for people without diabetes. Real-time data and insights from a CGM can help users remain proactive about future health, manage weight and improve sleep and mood.
Research shows that CGM use can help users adhere to low-glycemic and low-carb diets, even without intentional calorie restriction. This extends to both sleep quality and length, as well as improving mood and even potentially lessening symptoms of depression.
Abbott designed Lingo to provide a glucose graph, providing glucose reactions in real time based on continuous readings. The Lingo Count feature translates glucose spikes into one easy-to-understand metric. Users can also log meals and exercise for deeper insights and sync Lingo with Apple Health to log workouts automatically.
The company offers Lingo in three options, all with up to 14-day wear times. First, the $49, two-week “Learn” option allows users to wear one biosensor to understand how the body responds to daily food and exercise choices.
Abbott’s $89 “Build” option provides two biosensors for consumers to develop a deeper knowledge of their metabolism and experiment with habits. Finally, the $249 “Transform” option with six biosensors helps create consistent routines, improve metabolism and track progress.
“Physical activity and nutrition are two major factors that impact glucose variability and while glucose spikes are normal, fewer spikes and crashes are associated with numerous short-term and long-term health benefits,” said Dr. Fred St. Goar, cardiologist and medical director of El Camino Health Heart and Vascular Institute. “Understanding your body’s glucose is key to managing your metabolism, so you can live healthier and better. CGMs are a powerful tool that I recommend to my patients to help them better understand what is going on inside their bodies, so they can take actional steps to improve mood, focus, energy, sleep, reduced cravings, and improve their health outcomes.”
The analysts’ take on the launch
BTIG analysts Marie Thibault and Sam Eiber say that Abbott may expand Lingo into retail channels following the initial launch on its own platform. They also note that Lingo’s app is only available to iPhone users.
The analysts say management sized their target market opportunity at around 500 million patients. That splits roughly evenly between the U.S. and elsewhere.
According to the analysts, placing an order for the two-week plan proved “very quick and easy.” They said the order is expected to take 5-7 business days to ship, though the estimated delivery date was just three days away (Sept. 8).
“We note that the turnaround for Dexcom’s Stelo was speedy, with the sensor arriving the very next day after we placed our order,” the analysts wrote.
Additionally, they downloaded the Lingo app on an iPhone and found the background questions and information gathered more detailed than Stelo. Questions included height, weight, top reason for use and the ability to opt into coaching notifications.
“We have to wait to receive the biosensor before getting into the full app experience, but based on what we have seen online, it appears that the app may offer a couple more engagement opportunities (badges, challenges, “Lingo Count” to quantify the impact of glucose spikes) than what we are experiencing so far with Stelo,” the analysts concluded.
