Abbott launches its first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor within the US

Abbott Laboratories announced Thursday that its over-the-counter Lingo continuous glucose monitor is out there within the U.S. starting at $49.

Lingo is a component of a brand new class of consumer-friendly biosensors that may help people learn the way their bodies reply to food, exercise, sleep and stress. These devices, called continuous glucose monitors, are small sensors which can be poked through the skin to measure glucose levels in real time. Glucose is a sugar molecule that comes from food and is the body's predominant source of energy.

Continuous glucose monitors have served as a tool for patients with diabetes, but Lingo will not be intended for diabetes management. Instead, it’s designed for adults who don’t take insulin and need to “improve their overall health and well-being,” in response to a press release.

Everyone's glucose levels fluctuate, but persistently high levels may cause more serious health problems equivalent to metabolic disease, insulin resistance and heart disease, Abbott said. The company argues Lingo can educate users about existing habits and help them manage their glucose levels in a healthier way.

“That's really the goal, not only to see and understand what's going on in your body, but to be able to improve that, to build those healthy habits that drive those changes,” said Ben Fohner, the top of Abbott's Lingo app, in an interview with CNBC.

Abbott already offers continuous glucose monitors for diabetes patients within the US and needs to overcome a very recent market with Lingo. About one in three Americans, for instance, suffers from prediabetes, but these patients are generally not eligible for prescriptions or insurance coverage for the monitors.

Now they will pay for the sensors out of pocket, with no prescription. Users should purchase one sensor online for $49, two sensors for $89 or six sensors for $249, Abbott said. Each sensor is worn on the upper arm for as much as 14 days.

Olivier Ropars, Abbott's divisional vice chairman for Lingo, said the corporate decided to supply three different pricing options so curious consumers aren't delay by a long-term commitment. A customer can decide to buy only one sensor and check out it out for a number of weeks.

“We want to make it as accessible and affordable as possible,” Ropars said in an interview with CNBC.

Abbott's competitor Dexcom can also be eyeing the prediabetes market. In late August, the corporate launched its over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor tailored to that focus on group. Dexcom's device is known as Stelo and is out there within the U.S. for $89 a month. Patients with type 2 diabetes who don’t take insulin may also use it, the corporate said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Dexcom's Stelo in March and cleared two over-the-counter continuous glucose monitoring systems from Abbott in June. One of Abbott's systems was Lingo, and the second system, called Libre Rio, is meant for patients with type 2 diabetes who don’t take insulin.

Although type 2 patients who don't take insulin could technically use Lingo, Ropars said Abbott primarily recommends Libre Rio since it was designed specifically for them. The company declined to say when Libre Rio can be available.

The Lingo app

Like many continuous glucose monitors, Lingo transmits data wirelessly to an app. When users open it, they see a real-time display of their glucose data, updated every minute.

These glucose levels are plotted on a graph that features a shaded area to point a “healthy range.” Fohner said Abbott's clinical team defines this range as 140 milligrams per deciliter to 70 milligrams per deciliter.

One of Abbott's predominant goals is to assist Lingo users learn more about glucose spikes, which occur when the quantity of sugar within the bloodstream rises quickly after which falls again. Glucose spikes often occur after eating.

Spikes can push a user's glucose above the healthy range, but they may also occur inside the healthy range. Limiting spikes and overall improving glucose management may help users improve their sleep and mood, manage their weight and proactively work on their future health, Abbott said.

To help users higher visualize the impact of their spikes, Abbott has developed a metric called the Lingo Count, an algorithm that assigns a numerical value to every glucose spike to represent how big the impact is. Each day, users have a goal Lingo Count that they wish to stay below.

Users can see this data in a second, more interactive glucose graph after they scroll down on Lingo's homepage. In the shaded area below a spike, a number is displayed that represents the Lingo counter for that spike.

“This is unique to Lingo, but actually the number is an indicator and a function of what your peak was, how long it lasted and what effect that peak had on your body,” Fohner said.

Users can analyze Lingo Count data and see the way it evolves over time and what time of day the strongest spikes occur. They may also enter competitions and access educational resources to learn reduce these spikes.

Ropars said metabolism doesn't change overnight and everybody's body works otherwise. He said Lingo can function a window to see how and why a user's glucose levels fluctuate. But the true value of Lingo lies within the support it might probably offer users as they fight to ascertain healthy habits, Ropars said.

“Many of our products today are geared towards helping people who have a chronic illness and are trying to get back on their feet,” he said. “This is the first time we've developed a product to help people, improve their daily lives and give them control of their health before they get sick.”