Israel’s GlucoMe gets India contract for diabetes kits

Apollo Sugar’s nationwide chain of clinics will provide its 200,000 patients with the startup’s ‘Diabetes Home-Care Kit’

Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter

GlucoMe's app provides users with analytics and treatment plans. (Courtesy)
GlucoMe's app provides users with analytics and treatment plans. (Courtesy)

Israeli startup GlucoMe, which has developed a wireless blood glucose monitoring kit to help diabetes patients keep tabs on sugar levels, said Thursday that a network of diabetes clinics in India has started integrating the firm’s device into its new national diabetes home care program.

GlucoMe said that under the terms of an exclusive strategic agreement with Apollo Sugar, a nationwide chain of diabetes clinics belonging to the Apollo Hospitals Group, hundreds of thousands of Apollo Sugar Clinic patients will receive a “Diabetes Home-Care Kit,” which includes GlucoMe’s wireless blood glucose monitor. The monitor provides real-time data to both patient and medical professionals and allows continuous communication between the clinic and its patients, in a bid to optimize treatment plans for patients.

“For the first time in India, the diabetes clinic is walking into someone’s house,” said Dr. Prathap Reddy, the chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group in a statement.

India has been dubbed the diabetes capital of the world, as Indians appear to be more genetically inclined to develop diabetes as they gain weight than other populations from other countries, The New York Times recently wrote. The International Diabetes Federation estimates that the number of Indian citizens with diabetes will jump to almost 124 million in 2040 from some 73 million today, as diets rich in sugars and fat spread in the world’s second most populous nation, which has some 1.3 billion inhabitants.

Indian farmers could benefit from the Israel-India FTA, which is likely to attract Israeli agricultural high-tech companies to India (Photo credit: Serge Attal/Flash 90)
Indian farmers pick rice in a rural area. (illustrative, Photo credit: Serge Attal/Flash 90)

“Diabetes is an enormous health problem challenging India’s population and economy,” said Gagan Bhalla, the CEO of Apollo Sugar Clinics. “Our goal in treating the diabetes pandemic is to achieve efficient management of the condition to result in significant improvement in overall patient health and reduce diabetes complications. We are thrilled to be introducing the GlucoMe platform in India and anticipate this to be a successful and long-term partnership.”

The GlucoMe solution aims to simplify diabetes management and lessens the burden of diabetes monitoring for medical teams and patients. A wireless blood glucose monitor automatically records blood glucose measurements and insulin intakes. Data is then seamlessly transferred to the patient’s smartphone, stored in a personal profile by the mobile app, and analyzed by GlucoMe’s cloud-based Digital Diabetes Clinic, which also provides personalized reports and real-time alerts.

In addition, it recommends proactive treatment approaches to be considered by the attending medical professional.  The result, the company said, is increased patient compliance, reduced glucose levels, and improved overall quality of life.

The GlucoMe platform includes a wireless blood glucose and insulin pen monitors which work with audio connectivity; a mobile app compatible with iOS and Android devices, and a Digital Diabetes Clinic, which includes a cloud-based diabetes management software for healthcare professionals. The GlucoMe product has got the CE regulatory approval in Europe and clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration is expected in 2018, the company said. Several clinical trials of the platform are ongoing.

Apollo Sugar has 55 clinics located across India and has the largest network of doctors and over 150 dietitians providing treatment to more than 200,000 diabetes patients.

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