Abbott, Medtronic ink diabetes pacts with Sanofi, Novo Nordisk

Abbott (NYSE:ABT) and Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) today announced separate data-sharing deals for digital diabetes management solutions.

Abbott is partnering with Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) to integrate glucose sensing and insulin delivery to help people manage their diabetes. The two companies plan to develop tools to combine Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre technology with insulin dosing information for smart pens, insulin titration apps and cloud software.

And Medtronic said it partnered up with Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) to integrate insulin dosing data from Novo Nordisk’s smart insulin pens into Medtronic’s CGM devices.

Abbott-Sanofi

The non-exclusive Abbott-Sanofi deal calls for data sharing between the FreeStyle Libre and Sanofi’s connected insulin pens, apps and cloud software, which are still in development.

“For close to a century, Sanofi has been supporting those living with diabetes through our robust portfolio of medicine. This strategic relationship with Abbott is representative of the next evolution of our commitment for better diabetes care by incorporating digital tools into the daily life of people living with diabetes,” Gustavo Pesquin, global diabetes & cardiovascular SVP, said in a news release. “By partnering with Abbott, we are a step closer to realizing our connected ecosystem, which would help improve control and the quality of life decision cycle for patients through individualized glycemic management of diabetes.”

“As the global leader in continuous glucose monitoring, we see a significant opportunity to impact the health of millions of people living with diabetes by developing new tools and connectivity with Sanofi, a leader in the insulin space,” added Abbott diabetes SVP Jared Watkin. “Diabetes can be overwhelming as it is an information-rich condition with various streams of data from multiple devices. Building a digital ecosystem around FreeStyle Libre simplifies the user experience by consolidating how people get their data – both through offering Abbott′s digital health tools and by working with other diabetes and technology leaders.”

Medtronic-Novo Nordisk

In a separate release, Medtronic and Novo Nordisk said that giving doctors and users access to both glucose and insulin data can help improve glucose level management.

“We see incredible power in combining a variety of data points to drive insights that help people living with diabetes make more informed decisions around managing their glucose levels,” advanced insulin management president Alejandro Galindo said in prepared remarks. “Our new agreement with Novo Nordisk, the world’s largest producer of insulin, will streamline the sharing of two of the most important pieces of information – glucose measurements and insulin dosed. With this, Medtronic can further enhance our market-leading analytics and insights to help ease the burden of diabetes.”

“Millions of people living with diabetes work to control their sugar levels and track their insulin injections every day. To help ease the hassle of diabetes management, we are excited to be partnering with Medtronic, the largest medical device company in the world,” added Novo Nordisk EVP Camilla Sylvest. “We now collaborate with all major CGM device producers, which means we can bring the benefits of smart insulin pens to even more people.”