A Better Way to Manage Diabetes, Insulin

For people living with diabetes and using an insulin pen, questions abound throughout the day:

What is my glucose level?

When was my last dose of insulin and how much have I taken?

Should I take another dose now?

But the question that stands above all: Why can't there be a better way?

Now, there is. Starting this month in Europe, Abbott and Novo Nordisk are rolling out a new integrated solution for people living with diabetes.^*

By combining the technology behind our FreeStyle Libre system — which is the fastest growing continuous glucose monitoring system (CGM) on the market with approximately 4.5 million¹ users — with Novo Nordisk's connected insulin pens, managing your diabetes is going to get a whole lot easier.

"With little relevant information available, it can be difficult for many people with diabetes and their doctors to make the right treatment decisions," said Søren Smed Østergaard, Vice President, Digital Health, Novo Nordisk. "The partnership with Abbott will give healthcare professionals a better understanding of a person's individual diabetes management and can help people with diabetes feel more confident in their treatment with our smart insulin pen."

Revolutionizing CGM with FreeStyle Libre

This is what the next frontier in diabetes management looks like:

FreeStyle Libre system is a CGM that comes factory-calibrated and doesn't require fingersticks.² With the FreeStyle LibreLink app and FreeSyle Libre 2 app, you can capture real-time glucose levels, eight-hour history and see how your glucose levels are changing throughout the day.

Combine that with Novo Nordisk's latest connected pens that give users accurate dosages and an injection history that includes size and time of your last dose, keeping your last 800 doses, corresponding to at least three months’ of dosing history.

Given the large and growing base of FreeStyle Libre users, this partnership between Abbott and Novo Nordisk has the potential to significantly improve diabetes management, giving users the ability to be better informed and personalize their care with technology at their fingertips.

"It is our aim at Abbott to continuously provide life-changing technology to people living with diabetes," said Jared Watkin, senior vice president of Abbott's diabetes care business. "Diabetes is a time intensive condition to manage. People with diabetes must make a variety of decisions every single day about their glucose monitoring, nutrition, insulin and medication intake.

"By enabling insulin dosing data from Novo Nordisk's connected pens to be shared with our digital health tools, we’ll be able to help further eliminate those daily hassles for people, so they have more time to live a fuller, healthier life."

For more about Novo Nordisk, please visit novonordisk.com

*This integrated solution is not available in the United States.

References

¹ Data on file, Abbott Diabetes Care.
² Fingersticks are required for treatment decisions when you see Check Blood Glucose symbol, when symptoms do not match system readings, when you suspect readings may be inaccurate, or when you experience symptoms that may be due to high or low blood glucose.

This story was originally published on Feb. 19, 2019, and updated on Nov. 14, 2022.