Medtronic, Samsung to Jointly Develop Diabetes Mobile App - Analyst Blog
Medical technology giant Medtronic plc MDT recently tied up with Samsung Electronics – a South Korean multinational electronics giant – to enhance holistic diabetes management worldwide, a part of its effort to transform itself into a more comprehensive diabetes solutions company.
Management announced this partnership at the American Diabetes Association’s 75th Scientific Sessions, in an aim to reach out to the 387 million people currently suffering from diabetes globally (as per International Diabetes Federation).
The two companies herewith seek to combine their efforts to provide seamless, timely access to diabetic data for patients as well as their care givers. Per the deal, Medtronic’s comprehensive diabetes management system will be combined with Samsung’s expertise in offering next-generation consumer mobile technology, to make diabetes-related data easily available to customers.
Both the companies will co-develop a mobile app for Samsung users, which will offer useful insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) information. This app, which will be available on Samsung’s mobile and wearable devices, will utilize Medtronic’s latest FDA-approved cloud-based display device – MiniMed Connect.
MiniMed Connect imports critical sensor and insulin information from the patients’ MiniMed insulin pump to the app and provides real-time web display on the users’ Android devices, thus facilitating timely treatment.
Per management, this partnership will make MiniMed Connect available to more customers across the globe as almost 80% of mobile users currently own Android-enabled phones. We believe this in turn will encourage more diabetes patients to adopt Medtronic’s Minimed insulin pumps to take full advantage of this next-gen app, which in turn will raise the profit for the company’s Diabetes segment.
We note that, according to a recent study, the global diabetes rate has increased by nearly 45% over the last two decades. Thus, diabetes and overall health management is the need of the hour, more so in a convenient way that is compatible with patients’ everyday lifestyle.
The Medtronic-Samsung partnership takes forward the commitment to use technology for further advancements in healthcare, especially diabetes management, so as to allow diabetic people to live a better life.
Another company treading the same path as Medtronic is renowned drug manufacturer Novartis AG NVS. In July 2014, Novartis licensed Google Inc.’s GOOGL smart lens technology that allows measuring one’s blood sugar level to address potential ocular conditions. This was a key step on Novartis’ part to revolutionize both eye care and diabetes management.
Currently, Medtronic, Google and Novartis hold a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked medical product stock is Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. BIO, which sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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