Ascensia Diabetes Care Announces Strategic Alliance with Insulet Corporation to Connect CONTOUR®NEXT ONE BGMS and Omnipod Dash™ PDM

BASEL, Switzerland, June 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Ascensia Diabetes Care today announced it has entered into a strategic alliance by signing a development agreement with Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ: PODD), the leader in tubeless insulin pump technology with its Omnipod^® Insulin Management System (the Omnipod System). Under the terms of this agreement, the Ascensia CONTOUR^®NEXT ONE blood glucose monitoring system (BGMS) will connect to Insulet's next-generation Omnipod System (the Omnipod Dash™ System), which is currently in development. Seamlessly connecting the CONTOUR^®NEXT ONE BGMS and the Omnipod Dash™ System will provide people living with diabetes with an innovative continuous insulin delivery system to manage their diabetes, powered by remarkably accurate blood glucose readings.

The CONTOUR^®NEXT ONE BGMS will pair, via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), with the Omnipod Dash™ Personal Diabetes Manager (Omnipod Dash™ PDM) to automatically transmit a person's blood glucose readings directly into the system. These readings will be used by the Omnipod Dash™ PDM to calculate insulin dosing and support highly accurate delivery of insulin for people living with diabetes. Under the terms of this worldwide non-exclusive agreement, Insulet will develop and seek marketing clearance for the Omnipod Dash™ PDM, with collaboration from Ascensia Diabetes Care who will provide the CONTOUR^®NEXT ONE meter and CONTOUR^®NEXT test strips.

"We are delighted to enter into this agreement that brings together these innovative technologies from both companies," said Michael Kloss, CEO, Ascensia Diabetes Care. "The integration of our BGM system with Insulet's tubeless insulin pump system has significant potential to help people take control of their lives and their diabetes. We are pleased that our highly accurate system has been chosen to provide the critical blood glucose data that will be used by the Omnipod Dash™ PDM to calculate insulin dosing for patients."

“We are thrilled to partner with Ascensia as part of our development efforts on our next-generation Omnipod Dash platform, which will allow Insulet to maintain its competitive edge with truly innovative and differentiated products,” said Shacey Petrovic, President and Chief Operating Officer.

The CONTOUR^®NEXT ONE BGMS received 510(k) clearance from the FDA in November 2016 and has been shown to meet the stricter accuracy requirements of the FDA Over-the-Counter BGMS Guidance that was recently issued in 2016. In a clinical study, 95% of blood glucose results obtained with the CONTOUR^®NEXT ONE BGMS were within 8.4 mg/dL (0.5 mmol/L) or 8.4% of the reference result for subject fingertip tests.^[1]

Michael added, "This alliance is the next step in our goal of providing integrated solutions for people living with diabetes. We believe that integrated diabetes management is the future and are happy to work with partners that will help us to achieve this goal together. One aspect of this is pump therapy, where we have established ourselves as the partner of choice for blood glucose monitoring in the pump sector. We are excited that Insulet recognizes the value the CONTOUR^®NEXT ONE BGMS can bring to users of Omnipod's product platform."

Notes for Editors 

About Ascensia Diabetes Care 

Ascensia Diabetes Care is a global specialist diabetes care company, dedicated to helping people living with diabetes. Our mission is to empower people living with diabetes through innovative solutions that simplify and improve their lives. We use our innovation and specialist expertise in diabetes to develop high quality solutions and tools that make a positive, daily difference for people with diabetes.

Home to the world renowned CONTOUR^® portfolio of blood glucose monitoring systems, our products combine advanced technology with user-friendly functionality that help people with diabetes to manage their condition. We are committed to continued research, innovation and development of new products and solutions. As a trusted partner in the diabetes community, we collaborate closely with healthcare professionals and other partners to ensure our products meet the highest standards of accuracy, precision and reliability, and that we conduct our business compliantly and with integrity.

Ascensia Diabetes Care was established in 2016 through the sale of Bayer Diabetes Care to Panasonic Healthcare Holdings Co., Ltd. Ascensia Diabetes Care products are sold in more than 125 countries. Ascensia Diabetes Care has around 1,700 employees and operations in 33 countries.

For further information, please visit the Ascensia Diabetes Care website at: http://www.ascensia.com.

About Insulet Corporation 

Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ: PODD) is an innovative medical device company dedicated to making the lives of people with diabetes easier. Through its Omnipod Insulin Management System, Insulet seeks to expand the use of insulin pump therapy among people with insulin-dependent diabetes. The Omnipod is a revolutionary and easy-to-use tubeless insulin pump that provides up to three days of non-stop insulin delivery, without the need to see or handle a needle.  Insulet's Delivery Systems business also partners with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to adapt the Omnipod technology platform for the delivery of subcutaneous drugs across multiple therapeutic areas. Founded in 2000, Insulet Corporation is based in Billerica, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit: http://www.myomnipod.com.

© 2017 Ascensia Diabetes Care. Ascensia and Contour are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Ascensia Diabetes Care. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The use of third party trademarks does not constitute an endorsement or imply a relationship or other affiliation.

References

1. Christiansen et al. Poster presented at the 15th Annual Meeting of the Diabetes Technology Society, October 22-24, 2015, Bethesda, Maryland.

For further information, please contact:
Joseph Delahunty
Ascensia Diabetes Care
joseph.delahunty@ascensia.com
Tel: +41-61-560-8760