Dive Brief:

• Eli Lilly plans to introduce a personalized diabetes management platform that integrates with technologies including Dexcom’s continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems.
• The platform, branded Tempo, features a reusable medical device that attaches to Lilly's prefilled, disposable insulin pens and sends dose-related data to the compatible app. 
• Lilly’s U.S. launch of the platform, which is scheduled for later this year, comes seven years after it began investing in medical device research and development to counter the competitive and pricing pressures faced by its diabetes unit.

Dive Insight:

Drugmakers have been looking for new ways to differentiate their products from rival therapies amid difficulties in growing insulin sales. Indianapolis-based Lilly hit upon medical devices and an associated connected ecosystem as a way to prevent its diabetes business from becoming obsolete.

Tempo is the culmination of the strategy Lilly outlined years ago. The platform has three components: Tempo Smart Button, a Food and Drug Administration-cleared device that records information about the delivery of insulin and shares it via Bluetooth; TempoSmart, an app that records insulin dose information and enables patients to share it with healthcare providers; and Tempo Pen, an insulin delivery device. 

Patients attach the button to Tempo Pen to send insulin-dose information to TempoSmart. Capturing the data facilitates medication reminders, personalized education resources and feedback on blood glucose levels.

“Despite technological advancements, people continue to experience challenges with the complexities of insulin dosing. Using the learnings from early adopters of Tempo, we look forward to continually innovating our technology to aid those who use Lilly insulins to manage their diabetes,” Kevin Cammack, head of connected care, Lilly Diabetes, said in a statement.

Lilly is enabling patients to bring more data into the system by integrating with other devices, notably Dexcom CGM systems and the Tempo blood glucose monitor. Tempo can also sync data with wearable devices from Fitbit, Garmin, Google Fit and the Apple Health app.

Correction: In a previous version of this article, the name of Dexcom was misspelled in a photo caption.