Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) and Voluntis said today that the groups inked a non-exclusive agreement to bring digital insulin management systems for Type II diabetes to the U.S. and several European countries.
The companies 1st established in alliance in 2011, developing a mobile phone application that was designed to improve decision-making and self-management of patients with Type II diabetes treated with basal insulin.
Sanofi and Voluntis plan to launch pilot programs of the app in the U.S. and select European countries. The app won FDA clearance and CE Mark clearance last year.
“We are delighted to expand our long-standing collaboration with Sanofi,” Voluntis chairman Eric Elliott said in prepared remarks. “This new phase of our partnership with a world leader in diabetes will help us deliver digital titration tools into the hands of providers and their patients. Furthermore, digital therapeutics allow manufacturers and payers to check whether agreed value metrics have been achieved and help to lower costs without compromising on patient outcomes and access. They ensure that prescription medications deliver the effects for which they were brought to market.”
In 2011, Sanofi and Voluntis developed Diabeo, a software to help people with diabetes in France manage their basal-bolus treatment.
“Despite the availability of new medicines for the treatment of diabetes, we see that outcomes are not sufficiently improving and that more than half of patients are not well controlled,” Peter Guenter, Sanofi’s executive VP of diabetes & cardiovascular, added. “With this in mind, Sanofi is focusing on a beyond-the-pill approach. We know that diabetes management is a 24/7 job, and we recognize that the right tools need to be developed to realize better outcomes. The long-term alliance we have with Voluntis will help us to reach that goal.”
